The Personal Librarian, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
39/60 | Started 06.26.24 • Finished 07.03.24 | 3 stars
A short and sweet review of some lengthy historical fiction: most in the book club really loved this book and I found it mostly mid. The story moved along and it was definitely interesting, but I found the writing to be lacking and some of the themes to be unappealing.
The book is about Belle da Costa Greene, financier J.P. Morgan's personal librarian. He was an avid collector of historical artifacts, with a special place in his heart for old books. Over the years, and with some developed shrewdness, Belle was able to amass quite a collection for her employer. The thrust of the story is that Belle was actually black, but of light enough complexion to pass as white. That being the case, she lives in constant fear of being found out, thus losing her dream job.
I have to issue one trigger warning: abortion is mentioned and takes a small role in Belle's life - smaller than it should have in my pro-life view. While you will find in the afterword that there is no concrete evidence that one ever took place, it is written into the narrative and does help to make clear that Belle was willing to do whatever it took to maintain her position. Most people would probably enjoy this despite my misgivings.
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