I found The Personal Librarian to be both enjoyable and educational, which in my opinion is what historical fiction should be. The book’s protagonist is a most remarkable woman, Belle da Costa Greene. Why was she remarkable? In 1905 at age twenty-six she became the personal librarian of J. P. Morgan for his new Pierpont Morgan Library. Morgan had at the time one of the world’s premier collections of rare books and illustrated manuscripts. Ms. Greene soon became much more than a librarian for Morgan, becoming his agent at auctions in the U.S. and overseas. Her drive, intelligence, determination, and Morgan’s money soon made the collection one of the best in the world. This was at the time when women were rare in the rare book world.
But, Belle da Costa Greene was even rarer. She was born Bell Marion Greener to a black father and mother. Her father, Richard Theodore Greener, was the first black student and graduate of Harvard in 1870. Upon her parents’ divorce, her mother chose to pass as a white of Portuguese heritage. Her fair complected sisters could do this easily. For the somewhat darker-skinned Belle this was more of a challenge.
Much of the book deals with the social and emotional costs of passing for white, including her relationship with black family members. The events of the book take place against the regression away from racial equality that occurred during this time period, a regression of which I was only vaguely aware.
Other interesting aspects of the book were the portrayal of J.P. Morgan, and the intricacies and duplicities of the artworld.
An ongoing theme of the book is Greene’s evident romance with art historian Bernard Berenson, who, ironically, was a Lithuanian Jew posing as a Catholic Bostonian. I gave the book four stars, instead of five, as it seemed it could have been more alive and visceral. By all accounts when you were in a room with Belle, you knew she was there. Reading about her, I didn’t get the same feeling. The third person approach used was a little too distant for me, and I think the story would have benefited by a first person narrative.
I visited the library many years ago, and didn’t then fully appreciate it. A return visit is now in order.
kennethdschultz 