Where the Library Hides (2024) is a young adult historical fantasy novel by Bolivian American author Isabel Ibañez. The sequel to What the River Knows (2023), it’s the second book in the Secrets of the Nile duology. After her mother betrays her and her cousin is murdered, Argentinian heiress Inez Olivera faces a choice: Be forced to return home by her uncle, or marry his aide-de-camp, Whitford (“Whit”) Hayes. Whit, however, has his own plans, which involve Inez and the Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra, a document containing instructions on the alchemical creation of gold.

Ibañez is a best-selling author whose works have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, Indie, and Sunday Times bestseller lists. Her novel Woven in Moonlight (2020) was a finalist for the 2021 William C. Morris YA Debut Award and was listed on Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time.

This guide is based on the 2024 St. Martin’s Publishing Group e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of racism, gender discrimination, substance use, addiction, graphic violence, sexual content, cursing, illness, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and death. In particular, the text depicts the British colonial occupation of Egypt in 1885 and the resulting injustices.

Plot Summary

The story picks up where What the River Knows left off and follows the alternating first-person point-of-view perspectives of Inez Olivera and Whitford (“Whit”) Hayes. Whit proposes to Inez. The marriage would grant her independence from her uncle, Ricardo. Inez accepts the offer since it’s her last chance to stay in Egypt and search for answers about what happened to her father and what her mother, Lourdes, is doing. Inez and Whit marry secretly and later consummate the union in Inez’s room at Shepheard’s Hotel. When Ricardo finds out, he demands that the marriage be annulled, but Inez tells him it’s too late. Their argument is interrupted by news of an attack at their excavation site in Philae. Whit and Ricardo leave to assess the situation, while Inez takes the opportunity to search Ricardo’s room for answers about her mother. She finds her mother’s journal before she’s approached by Isadora (the daughter of Lourdes’s associate, Mr. Fincastle), who confesses that her father was behind the attack on Philae. Isadora also reveals that Lourdes had an affair with Fincastle and that Lourdes is her mother: Isadora and Inez are half-sisters.

When Whit returns, he’s skeptical of Isadora’s innocence, but Inez convinces him to let her stay with them. Upon examining Lourdes’s journal, they find a drawing of an ouroboros, a symbol linked to the legendary Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra. Inez visits the bank to transfer her fortune to her name, only to discover that Whit already withdrew all her money and sent it to London without her knowledge. When she confronts him, he admits to using her wealth to rescue his sister from a forced marriage. Inez slaps him and declares she’ll never trust him again. Despite her anger, Whit decides to stay near Inez rather than return to England, as she’s his best chance of finding the Chrysopoeia.

Ricardo and Abdullah (an archaeologist and Ricardo’s brother-in-law) are arrested for the thefts at the dig site. The only way to free them is to find the artifacts Lourdes stole from Cleopatra’s tomb, and Inez deduces that her mother will likely try to sell the artifacts at an auction run by the Tradesman’s Gate smuggling ring. Isadora suggests fleeing to Argentina, but Inez refuses. When Whit arrives with information about the auction’s location, she agrees to work with him under strict conditions: that there will be no more lies, and that they’ll divorce once the mission is complete.

At the auction, Whit disguises himself as a staff member, while Inez and Isadora blend in among the masked attendees. Inez bids on a statuette from Cleopatra’s tomb, which draws the attention of Basil Sterling, the ruthless founder of Tradesman’s Gate. Basil attempts to manipulate Inez into revealing the whereabouts of Lourdes and Fincastle. Though she refuses, he returns Cleopatra’s golden ring to her before letting her go. She reunites with the group, and Whit says he found Lourdes’s money from the auction, which is being sent to an address in Alexandria. Inez has a vision through Cleopatra’s golden ring, revealing that the Chrysopoeia is hidden beneath Alexandria. They speculate that Lourdes went there to find it. Inez, Whit, and Isadora leave for Alexandria, taking a magic-touched teacup that lets them communicate with Ricardo and Abdullah.

When they arrive in Alexandria, they check into Hotel Abbat. Isadora stays behind to unpack while Inez and Whit head to the address, which is a bank. Whit checks Lourdes’s file and discovers that she has a home address in Alexandria. Outside, they spot her preparing to enter the bank, but a whistle warns her away before they can reach her. Whit is convinced that Isadora tipped off her mother, but Inez brushes off his concerns. Later, the trio visit Lourdes’s home address: The modest home is filled with magical artifacts and journals. Sterling interrupts their search and seizes all the contents of the house except a bottle of healing ink, which Inez hides. He offers her another chance to join him, which she refuses, and he gives her a calling card before leaving. Whit follows Sterling to his headquarters, steals a box of Lourdes’s belongings, and regroups with Inez and Isadora. Clues in the recovered items lead them to the ancient lighthouse on Pharos Island. They head to the lighthouse ruins, and Inez has a vision of Cleopatra using a hidden waterway beneath the city. Isadora then turns on Inez and Whit, revealing that she was working with Lourdes all along. She shoots Whit and attempts to kill Inez, only to fall to her death from the crumbling lighthouse stairs.

Inez gets Whit back to the hotel and uses Lourdes’s bottle of healing ink to treat the gunshot wound. As Whit drifts into sleep, he confesses that he loves Inez. The following day, Whit wakes fully healed, and they piece together their next move. Using the magic teacup, they contact Abdullah, who says the tunnels Inez saw are part of Alexandria’s ancient cistern system, and rumors tell of a lost library there. Before they can proceed with their plan to find it, Sterling abducts Inez at gunpoint. At his headquarters, Inez negotiates for Whit and her family’s safety in exchange for the location of the lost library. Once he confirms its location, Sterling reneges on his promise and insists that Inez remain with him as he confronts Lourdes and Fincastle. He then reveals that he’s Cayo, Inez’s father, in disguise. He lured his daughter to Egypt as leverage against his wife, and he takes Inez with him to the underground library. After Fincastle learns of Isadora’s death, he attacks Inez, forcing Lourdes to kill him to protect Inez. A shootout erupts, and in the chaos, Whit reveals that he was hiding among Cayo’s men. During the fight, a grenade detonates, beginning the destruction of the library and knocking Inez unconscious. In a vision, she sees Cleopatra put the Chrysopoeia in a hidden chamber using the gold ring. Upon waking, she and Whit rush to retrieve it before the ruins collapse. Just as they secure the scroll, Cayo threatens to kill Lourdes if Inez doesn’t hand it over. She reluctantly complies, but Lourdes sets off an explosion that gives them time to escape. Inez, Whit, and Lourdes all emerge from the Nile alive. They return to the hotel, where Monsieur Maspero, the antiquities officer, arrests Lourdes. Before she’s led away, Lourdes secretly gives Whit the Chrysopoeia as a final gift for Inez.

Two weeks later, at a farewell dinner, Maspero reveals that Lourdes negotiated a deal, exchanging Cleopatra’s cache for house arrest instead of prison. Determined to make amends, Whit secretly experiments with the Chrysopoeia’s formula and successfully transforms lead into gold. He and Inez remain in Egypt to continue their archaeological work alongside Abdullah and Ricardo.