Dear Lit Loves,
This month's book club selection is The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. The book introduces the reader to a woman named Belle da Costa Greene who would become the personal librarian and curator of The Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle was originally named Belle Marian Greener, but to afford her more opportunities, her mother urges Belle to change her name as she is a colored woman now "passing" as a white woman due to "alleged" Portuguese family history. Belle worked in the rare books collection at Princeton before being recommended to J.P. Morgan as a future librarian and directress of The Pierpont Morgan Library where she works to build a powerhouse collection of rare art and manuscripts.
The majority of the book revolves around Belle actively acquiring rare paintings, art and manuscripts for J.P. Morgan's library. The library is where Belle builds her career in the world of fine art, specifically, authenticating work, building relationships with fellow collectors and patrons as well as utilizing J.P. Morgan's wealth to acquire rare works at auctions. We see her become a successful career woman and trusted confidante to J.P. Morgan. And she accomplishes all of this while keeping her secret that she is technically a "colored" woman. Part of the draw of this book is the quest to learn if Belle's secret is ever revealed and how that might have affected her given the historical nature of the book.
Belle's parents were married and both espoused the need for equality. It is only when Belle's father, Richard Greener, first African American graduate of Harvard, goes to teach at a southern university that the couple sees the ugliness of racism and discrimination. As a result, Belle's mom chooses to raise and keep her family living and passing as "white". Belle's father wants to continue to support the cause of civil rights and equality. And he wants to live as an authentic "colored" man. Thus, he opts to leave the family. Belle, after acquiring the career of librarian at The Pierpont Morgan Library, is the primary provider for her family consisting of several sisters, one brother and her mother. The book notes that when Belle's mom made her decision to live as "white" colored men were being lynched, segregation was the norm, and women were fighting for the right to vote.
Belle tries to effectively keep her secret throughout the book. Keeping that secret comes at a cost to her and she often wonders how her father would feel about her actions. And there are other characters in the book with secrets as well which we see depicted as Belle travels the world in the pursuit of fine art for The Pierpont Morgan library. We see the struggle of Black women and the quest to make their voices heard and get college educations to further their respective careers though most women in this time period were teachers or assistants. Belle becomes a well-respected leader in the world of fine art and a leader among women.
There are many twists and turns in this book regarding Belle's friends, her work, and her love interests. Belle's not the only character in the book that has a secret. Even J.P. Morgan's daughter is trying to hide information from her father. In the end, Belle obviously loses J.P. Morgan, but remains on as personal librarian to his son, Jack Morgan. Eventually, she successfully manages to convince Jack Morgan to make The Pierpont Morgan Library public so everyone can have access to its rare masterpieces.
I think the part I liked the most about this book was the ending whereby Belle is being interviewed by a reporter from The New York Times as a profile the paper will run about Belle and her success. She decides to have her portrait taken between Mr. J.P. Morgan's lion-footed, enormous desk and a painting of a darker skinned man that she convinced Jack Morgan to acquire as it reminds her of her father. Essentially, Belle's career was shaped early by her father's love of art and their visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her career success was heavily influenced by J.P. Morgan. And in the end, it is fitting that she stands equally between emblems of both men.
I confess, I do not normally read historical fiction. This book intrigued me as it is based on a real individual and her career at a time in history when female career success was not the norm. While reading the book, I often wondered if Belle's ethnicity was ever revealed during the course of her life of some seventy years? Was it revealed after she died? And how would J.P. Morgan have reacted if he had been informed of Belle's true ethnicity? This is a book that will make you appreciate how far the women's movement has come while simultaneously perusing a period of U.S. history that depicts how much racism and discrimination were so very common and rampant at the beginning of the 1900s.
I highly recommend this book not only for book clubs, but also for high school English and history classes. It is well-researched. There were times when the second half of the book became too drawn out and dry for me, but that's just my personal preference. The book is definitely worthy of its length. I highly recommend this book.
Til my next review,
Grace (Amy)
