Book Review: The Personal Librarian

Book: The Personal Librarian
Authors: Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
My Rating: 8.5/10

Personal Librarian | Book Review | Cebu

I have a little knowledge of amazing women in history. This book piques my interest in researching them.

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I like the story of a light-colored black woman pretending to be white to be able to survive. The fun part is that she must hide her identity from one of America’s greatest figures, J.P. Morgan. Belle can be an activist like her father but chooses a different path to follow her dreams, survive a racist world, and help her family.

One huge lesson that I surely won’t forget. Always be mannerly in demeanor and be always dignified, no matter what treatment we encounter outside the bubble of our tiny world.

Belle Da Costa Greene

Although tackled less in the story, I have also learned so much about old books, incunabulum, and manuscripts. Because, this tale is not about the Peirpont Morgan Library but about Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian. How she takes the world of literature and arts into her hands.

The only thing that I hated about this book is the love story or romantic part. It’s toxic and cringy. It is explained more than expected. Hardly bearable but necessary to show what Belle has become.

The Morgan Library and Museum

I cried a lot when J.P. Morgan died because I can feel Belle during that moment. (I just learned that the husband secretly took a video of me crying. (Not posting here though) They have a confused yet appealing relationship – sorry, I don’t know how to express it fully.

Overall, another beautiful historical fiction worth reading. Also, added to the list of my to-visit places is the Morgan Library and Museum in New York.

About the Book

The Personal Librarian is a remarkable story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian—who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept making her dreams come true.

It tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths to which she must go—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

Have you read the book? I love to hear what you think!