Take a photo of a barcode or cover
lazygal 's review for:
Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know
by Samira Ahmed
Who is the mysterious woman who inspired Byron's poem The Giaour, which then inspired Delacroix's The Combat of the Giaour and Hassan paintings? And what is the link to Alexandre Dumas? Fascinated by the Delacroix, Kayyam has written a paper about her belief that there is a missing painting - this paper should have gotten her into an exclusive art school but instead has lead her to an incredibly dejected and lost summer with her parents in their apartment in Paris.
On her way to see the Delacroix at the Petit Palais, she meets Alexandre Dumas (the many greats-grandson of the famous author). They pair up to find some mysterious treasure related to the paintings and Dumas' book The Count of Monte Cristo and somehow Byron's poem. The places they go to are real: any reader could do a tour of Paris based on this book. Is the story of Leila real? Well... there's no evidence of that. However, it is not implausible given women's lives at that time and the way that some female managed to inspire those three works.
Many are comparing this to Byatt's Possession but I see it more as akin to Donnelly's Revolution. The blending of history, mystery, real artifacts and the effects of religion and race on art and society are well done; if only the characters had been just as well-rounded.
eARC provided by publisher.
On her way to see the Delacroix at the Petit Palais, she meets Alexandre Dumas (the many greats-grandson of the famous author). They pair up to find some mysterious treasure related to the paintings and Dumas' book The Count of Monte Cristo and somehow Byron's poem. The places they go to are real: any reader could do a tour of Paris based on this book. Is the story of Leila real? Well... there's no evidence of that. However, it is not implausible given women's lives at that time and the way that some female managed to inspire those three works.
Many are comparing this to Byatt's Possession but I see it more as akin to Donnelly's Revolution. The blending of history, mystery, real artifacts and the effects of religion and race on art and society are well done; if only the characters had been just as well-rounded.
eARC provided by publisher.