The Girl With Braided Hair

Egyptian writer and art historian Adly frames her delightful if uneven U.S. debut around the restoration of a Napoleonic painting in Cairo after the 2011 revolution. Yasmine Ghaleb, a professor of art history, believes there’s something special about the portrait of a young Egyptian woman and is intrigued by its mysterious origins. As she works on the surface, which was damaged in a fire, she discovers human hair hidden under layers of paint. After comparing the painting to others online, she decides it must be the work of obscure French artist Alton Germain. She travels to Paris, where she consults with her mentor and tries to learn more about Germain. Adly intercuts Yasmine’s story with chapters set in 1798, featuring the painting’s subject, a teenager named Zeinab al-Bakri, beloved by both Germain and Napoleon. Adly blends vivid contemporary scenery—Cairo’s whirling dervishes, a Parisian bar hidden in a bookstore—with historical passages recounting Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt and Syria. Too often, the story plods along inelegantly, especially when the narrative shifts to Germaine’s notes, and the translation often feels overly explanatory (“Yasmine’s name, which means jasmine, was enough to bring its scent with her”). Still, Adly’s inspired story of art and resistance to colonization hits the mark. (Oct.)