From the Bookshelf of The Reading For Pleasure Book Club…

The Personal Librarian

Marie Benedict,

Victoria Christopher Murray

Start date: July 1, 2025

Finish date: July 31, 2025

Discussion: Archived Group Reads

Why we're reading this: Chosen by the group (in a poll) as the Fiction read for July 2025. The discussion thread is here: https:/…more
[close] Chosen by the group (in a poll) as the Fiction read for July 2025. The discussion thread is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... .

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Archived Group Reads

August 2025 Fiction Group Read: The River We Remember, by William Kent Krueger
By Werner , "The Magnificent Multi-Mod" · 10 posts · 24 views

last updated Sep 01, 2025 06:32AM

July-August Classic group read - Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
By Bionic Jean , Moderator and "Dickens Duchess" · 30 posts · 29 views

last updated Aug 31, 2025 03:50PM

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What Members Thought

Jun 04, 2025 John Warner rated it really liked it

Shelves: family-relationships, jsw-2025, historical-fiction, racism, family-secrets, books, identity, art-history

This historical novel that introduces readers to the life of Belle da Costa Greene, the personal librarian to J.P. Morgan, one of the wealthiest men of the Gilded Age. Set against the backdrop of New York's elite society in the early 20th century, this novel seamlessly blends fiction and history. Her life was largely obscured for years because exposure of her family secrets would have resulted in social ostracism.

Belle da Costa Greene née Belle Marion Greener, a woman who, in the 1900s, defied ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jul 26, 2023 Meera rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

This was a book I had started and didn't finish before my copy expired. I found it slow and felt distant from the main character. During my second attempt, I enjoyed it more and found the slowness of it relaxing. I still felt distant from the main character, but I enjoyed it more as I felt that I learned more about the historical aspect. After finishing, I looked up the real person, Belle Greene because she was a fascinating person. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Nov 22, 2023 Jody rated it it was ok

There is no doubt that the story line is interesting. But reading this book remained a chore. There were no characters to like or care about. Belle was careful to keep her distance from people in order to preserve her secret, but in the book, she also remains distant from the reader. This book is historical fiction and the authors do make it clear in the end notes that they took some liberty in creating drama and betrayal in Belle’s romantic liaisons where there may have been none. Unfortunately ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 20, 2021 Andria rated it liked it

Oh, this one is hard to rate. I found the historical account of this woman fascinating and enjoyed the blending of factual accounts and fiction around Belle's rise during times of segregation in a male dominated, changing art world. I can feel the passion for this woman and her journey through the early 1900s racial landscape in the writing, and the enthusiasm in the authors notes from both writers almost made me want to bump my rating up to 4 stars. I loved every glimpse into high society Ameri ...more

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Aug 26, 2024 Laurel Bradshaw rated it liked it

Shelves: color-rating-green, biographical-fiction, 1900s, librarians, racism, books-bookstores-libraries, new-york-city

3 green stars

This should have been a fascinating story about a real woman, and it kept my interest for about 40% of the book. After that, it got very repetitive and same old, same old. Surely there was more to her life than the constant race angle. There isn't a lot of historical evidence that this was even an issue for her. I found the descriptions of her relationships, even with her father, to be contrived, and sorry, but the sex scenes were just cringeworthy. And the whole storyline about her 3 green stars

This should have been a fascinating story about a real woman, and it kept my interest for about 40% of the book. After that, it got very repetitive and same old, same old. Surely there was more to her life than the constant race angle. There isn't a lot of historical evidence that this was even an issue for her. I found the descriptions of her relationships, even with her father, to be contrived, and sorry, but the sex scenes were just cringeworthy. And the whole storyline about her lover's business dealings and "betrayal" was wholly made up. I wanted to like this book much more than I did. What I did learn about her, I found very interesting. She was well educated, shrewd, maybe even brilliant in her ability to acquire manuscripts and artwork for the Pierpont Morgan Library. I would have liked more about how the library became open to the public, and about her directorship in her later life. The authors' notes at the end of the book were more interesting. I get that this is fiction, but I think they took too many liberties, and I found myself questioning much of the story.

Description: In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American. The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.
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