The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Khan, Sabina. The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali. Scholastic Press. 2019. Kindle.

The novel is narrated by Rukhsana, the 17-year-old protagonist of the story. Rukhsana was a senior in high school living in Seattle. At home, she was the ideal Muslim daughter who did everything her Bangladeshi-born parents asked of her. At school, however, she had a girlfriend, Ariana, and spent all her time with her two best friends, Jen and Rachel, who were white and progressive. Rukhsana constantly felt torn between her two worlds because her parents were extremely conservative and had strict rules about what she could wear, who she could see, and how she should act. On top of this, they favored her brother, Aamir, and always made sure that he had time to study while they forced her to focus on cooking at home so she would one day be a desirable wife.

One day, Rukhsana came home from school and found both her parents waiting for her. At first, she was worried that they had found out she was a lesbian, but they revealed that a letter from Caltech offering her a full-ride scholarship had come. Rukhsana had not told them that she applied because they wanted her to attend the University of Washington so she could remain at home. However, she wanted to live in California with Ariana and study astronomy. At first, her mother said there was no way she could go, but her father said Cal-tech was an amazing school and they should be proud of her accomplishment.

The next day, Rukhsana had Ariana over to her house. When her Aunty Meena came by to drop off food, Rukhsana made Ariana hide in the pantry, which infuriated Ariana. Rukhsana promised that she would tell her parents soon and invited Ariana to come over for dinner to meet them as a friend first. When Ariana came for dinner, she impressed Rukhsana’s parents and made a great impression. That weekend, Rukhsana’s parents took her to a wedding and bragged to all their friends about Rukhsana’s acceptance to Caltech, which gave Rukhsana hope that her parents would allow her to attend her dream school. All the older women were obsessed with Irfan, a young eligible bachelor.

Rukhsana met her friends at the mall. Ariana snuck up behind her and kissed her on the cheek, which made Rukhsana jump away in a panic. This made Ariana run into the bathroom and cry. Rukhsana decided to tell her parents the truth, but when she got home her aunt and uncle were there and they were all talking about a friend of theirs who had a gay son. Ariana called and apologized. Rukhsana went over to her house, but she heard her speaking with her mother in the backyard. Ariana’s mother said that she should be cautious of Rukhsana because Muslim families were not the same as white families. Rukhsana got upset and went home to cry.

Rukhsana made up with Ariana and they went to Starbucks where they shard a public kiss. To Rukhsana’s horror, she spotted Irfan in line at the counter. Irfan followed her to the grocery store where her parents worked and asked if they could talk. Rukhsana panicked and thought he was going to expose her, but he told her he did not have a problem with homosexuality. He was dating a white woman named Sara who went to the University of Washington. He asked Rukhsana if she could help ease Sara into their Bengali social scene so he could break the news to his conservative parents in a gentle way. Rukhsana agreed and introduced Sara to her parents at dinner.

Rukhsana had Ariana over to study. They snuck into her bedroom and shared a kiss. Rukhsana’s mother came in and saw them. She slapped Ariana and told Rukhsana she was ashamed and disgusted by her behavior. Rukhsana’s father slapped her when she tried to argue with them. The next few weeks were tense, but then Rukhsana’s parents told her that her maternal grandmother, Nani, was ill. They flew to Bangladesh to see her.

Rukhsana was excited to see Nani and her cousin, Shaila, because she loved visiting them. Nani turned out not to be very sick, and they settled in to have a good time together. However, Rukhsana’s parents then revealed that they wanted her to get engaged to a man before they returned to Seattle. When she tried to argue, her father had a panic attack and ended up in the hospital. Rukhsana realized that they would not change their mind, so she stole her passport and bought a ticket back to Seattle. However, her mother found the passport and took her phone, then realized what she had been about to do. Her mother locked her in her bedroom and hired a jinn-catcher to exorcise the evil jinn inside her making her a lesbian. Rukhsana pretended to be cured in order to escape. Her mother told her that she had to get married before returning to Seattle, and Rukhsana agreed. She broke up with Ariana to spare her the pain of dealing with the wild situation.

Through luck, one of Rukhsana’s suitors, Sohail, turned out to be gay. They decided to pretend to get engaged and then run away on the day of their wedding to escape their families. Nani, who had been forced into marriage as a 12-year-old girl, supported Rukhsana’s plan. Rukhsana made it to the airport with the help of Shaila and her brother, but Sohail was killed by extremists before he could get there. Back in Seattle, Rukhsana went back to school and begged her counselor to help her regain her scholarship to Caltech. She apologized to Ariana and they got back together. Her parents came home and apologized for how they had acted. At first, she did not want to accept their apology, but she decided it was the right thing to do. Her parents took her to an LGBTQ support group with her whole extended family. Then, they threw her a surprise birthday party and apologized to her and Ariana in front of everyone, then promised to support them in everything forever.