The Personal Librarian

One of my favorite haunts in New York City, where I live, is the Morgan Library, a short walk from where I work.

This historical novel reveals the truth behind the library by telling the story of Belle da Costa Greene, the Black woman who built and managed J. P. Morgan's personal collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork, establishing herself as a leader in New York society, while keeping her true identity completely hidden.

This book is fascinating, a propulsive read. It’s also the first work of fiction I think I've ever read that was co-written; I can't imagine… show more.

I was completely wowed by this historical novel about Belle, whom J. C. Morgan employed to curate his famous Pierpont Morgan Library in the early days of the 20th century.

That he hired a woman was unusual. He never knew that Belle da Costa Greene, as she'd presented herself, was not Portuguese as she claimed, but a biracial woman passing as white. Belle's parents were both light-skinned. While Belle's mother chose to pass for white so her children could benefit, her husband, Richard Theodore Greener, Harvard's first black graduate, would not. And so they divorced.

Extremely intelligent, Belle traveled in… show more.

Historical novels based on real people can be fascinating: we see their thoughts and overhear their conversations.

This is the story of Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan’s trusted personal librarian who helped him amass his huge collection, representing him at book and manuscript auctions as far away as London. Belle, however, is passing for white. She attributes her olive skin to a Portuguese grandmother, and Morgan doesn’t appear to suspect it.

Belle was born into an educated family whose mother decided her children would do better in NYC passing. Renouncing her identity and history is painful; she must move… show more.

I’m fascinated by people, particularly historical characters, who are passionate and driven to follow their dreams against all odds.

Belle da Costa Greene was not only a middle-class woman who managed the affairs of a world presided over by some of the world’s wealthiest men, but she was also compelled to hide the fact that she was black. I listened to the audiobook while running on my treadmill during winter and can honestly say I’ve never been as eager to lace up my running shoes as I was during that time. 

Based on the true story of Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was compelled to hide her identity and pass as white to work as J P Morgan’s personal librarian, this book contains everything I love about historical, biographical fiction and more.

It’s about a woman who defied convention and whose life story is fascinating, relevant, and inspiring. Belle is an intelligent, driven woman, who can hold her own in any company, and yet, to realize her ambitions and protect her family, she must conceal who she really is.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about her, and the… show more.

This work of historical fiction appealed to me on many levels. Read the Author’s Note first, written by its white and Black co-authors. Their book explores the double life of Belle de Costa Greene (1879-1950), whom J.P. Morgan hired in 1905 as his archivist and agent, assuming she’s white. In segregated America, the engaging Belle cannot risk exposure.

“Passing,” the dangerous attempt by Black Americans to hide their identities to survive, remains controversial. Lighter complexions were usually the result of rape by white owners of enslaved women. It allowed offspring greater access to education and employment. In 1929, Nella Larsen published Passing,… show more.

A fascinating story about Belle da Costa Greene who, as J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian in the early 1900s, finds herself a part of New York society and the rarefied art and book worlds. But all is not as it seems for Belle who was born Belle Marion Greener, and is hiding her true identity as a Black woman to protect herself from a world that won’t accept her for who she truly is. Historical but topical in so many ways.