When 17-year-old Khayyam Maquet (named after Persian poet Omar Khayyam) and university student Alexandre Dumas (named after the French writer, his ancestor), meet by apparent coincidence in Paris one August day, they discover they share a common goal: finding a connection between the 19th-century Dumas and painter Eugène Delacroix. Visiting from Chicago, Khayyam, who is French, Indian, American, and Muslim, wants to jump-start her future as an art historian; Alexandre declares that he wants to preserve his family's legacy. Short, interspersed sections told by 19th-century Leila, the "enslaved harem girl" whom Khayyam believes the original Dumas loved, and who may have inspired both a poem by Byron and a painting by Delacroix, build a suspenseful secondary story line. The book's premise is promising, the Parisian setting enticing, and the dialogue sharply paced. In both scholarship and romance, Khayyam is consistently--if somewhat overtly--cued: she's focused on her professional future, her anger at the way women's stories are elided, and her drive to right that wrong. While the plot development can be hard to follow, punctuated by Khayyam's confusion about a love interest at home and her feelings for Alexandre, Ahmed's (Internment) story succeeds in exploring historical themes of prejudice and who tells whose stories while offering a multi- faceted blend of contemporary and historical intrigue. Ages 14--up. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary. (Apr.)

Gr 9 Up--Khayyam, a trilingual senior awash with worries about college, is a first-generation American, the daughter of French and Muslim Indian immigrant university professor parents, and spending her annual August in Paris. Set on getting into a prestigious art school, she suffers a setback when a prominent art historian faults her research on a potential undiscovered Eugène Delacroix portrait of a legendary Muslim woman named Leila. Leila, a kind of Helen of Troy, was adulated in the 19th century by Byron and Delacroix, and was mostly known for her ill-fated beloved. Khayyam wants to find Leila's real story, and will find allies who mourn the "centuries of women" who never got to have a voice. Khayyam's tale alternates chapters with Leila's. A primer on French flirting, estate management, impulse control, and Instagram, this art history mystery will be a sure hit with readers who grapple with love triangles, have their eyes on Paris, or are budding feminists. Leila's chapters echo a lush and soulful prose, while Khayyam's follow a sarcastic, neutral banter. This is a whirl through 19th-century hidden drawers, libraries, salons, letters, hashish clubs, mansions, and tales of squandered monies with a descendant of Alexander Dumas and a determined young Muslim woman, on a quest to determine who has the right to #writeherstory. VERDICT Perfect for romantically and historically inclined teens whose ideal first date is an evening out to an art museum.--Sara Lissa Paulson, City-As-School High School, New York City

Khayyam Maquet, a 17-year-old rising high school senior, wallows in self-pity during her family's annual summer trip to Paris.Her failed essay contest entry chasing a theory about a lost Delacroix painting gifted to Alexandre Dumas dashed her hopes of impressing her dream art school. When Khayyam perhaps too coincidentally meets the sixth-great-grandson of Dumas himself, also called Alexandre Dumas, they embark on a quest to find the lost painting of a mysterious raven-haired woman. The narration alternates between Khayyam, a conflicted teen who falls for present-day Alexandre while she is still hung up on her noncommittal boyfriend back home in Chicago, and Leila, the beautiful, mystical Muslim subject of the painting who lived during the 19th century as a concubine to an Ottoman pasha and yearned for freedom and to be with her true love. Ahmed (Internment, 2019, etc.) explores weighty themes including Orientalism, women silenced by history, and the responsibility of sharing their unheard voices as Khayyam grapples with who has the right to tell someone's story. Familiar teen romance and angst, including flip-flopping on feelings and motivations, mix with academic discoveries and intrigue in this fast-paced, if at times dense, mystery. Khayyam is an American Muslim teen with French and Indian parents; the novel explores her biracial and bicultural identities.An entertaining tale that will appeal most to fans of art history and literature. (Fiction. 14-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

On her annual getaway to Paris with her parents, Khayyam is mulling over uncertainties awaiting her back in Chicago: an ex-boyfriend who's sending mixed signals, and a humiliating rejection letter from her dream college, thanks to an essay about an art-world obscurity that has since been debunked. Luckily, a chance encounter with a descendant of Alexandre Dumas and their mystifying connection to the legacy of Leila, a nineteenth-century Muslim woman, might allow Khayyam to redeem herself. Alternating between Khayyam's and Leila's perspectives, Ahmed (Internment, 2019) pulls readers into a picturesque Parisian setting that brings the mellifluous language and customs to life, which makes a perfect backdrop for an art mystery entwining seminal artists and writers, along with the woman linking them all. While Khayyam's narrative sometimes relinquishes the plot to play second fiddle to her romantic vexations, the chapters following Leila's story are alluring and captivating. With a determination to give voice to a woman whose story has been erased from the pages of history, Ahmed offers yet another well-wrought and dynamic novel.--Mahjabeen Syed Copyright 2020 Booklist