Personal Librarian

Interview, Washington Post (June 14, 2021)

In an article titled "Female-centered historical novels are dogged by questions of accuracy. Hence the author's note," novelist Vanessa Riley says that:
For a long time, history has been told through the lens of White men and judged important by the same. . . . a more detailed accounting will change this and allow for “a deeper dive into our subject matter, with documentation for those who deny the vast contributions made by women and marginalized people.”
Eloisa James, author of more than 35 historical romances . . .always writes a historical author’s note and has “discovered that some readers treat the author’s notes as the beginning of a conversation.”
Kate Quinn, author of more than a dozen historical novels, has a different take. She feels “honor-bound to tell the reader any changes made from the historical record in service of the story.” Quinn finds wonderful women doing amazing, atypical things. The accuracy of her research is never questioned.

Biography—Marie Benedict (author website)

Marie Benedict was a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a litigator at two of the country's premier law firms, who found her calling unearthing the hidden historical stories of women.
Her mission is to excavate from the past the most important, complex and fascinating women of history and bring them into the light of present-day where we can finally perceive the breadth of their contributions as well as the insights they bring to modern day issues.
She embarked on a new, thematically connected series of historical novels with The Other Einstein, which tells the tale of Albert Einstein's first wife, a physicist herself, and the role she might have played in his theories.

Biography—Marie Benedict (author website)

The next novel in this series is the USA Today bestselling Carnegie's Maid -- released in January 2018 -- and the book that followed is the New York Times bestseller and Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick The Only Woman in the Room, the story of the brilliant inventor Hedy Lamarr, published in 2019.
In January of 2020, Lady Clementine, the story of the incredible Clementine Churchill, was released, and became an international bestseller.
Her next novel, NYTimes and USA Today bestselling The Mystery Of Mrs. Christie, was published in 2020, and her first co-written book with Victoria Christopher Murray, The Personal Librarian, was released in 2021. It was also a NYTimes bestseller and Good Morning America Book Club Pick.

Biography—Marie Benedict (author website)

Her latest novel, Her Hidden Genius, was released in January 2022. It's the story of brilliant British scientist Rosalind Franklin who discovered the structure of DNA but whose research was used without her permission by Crick and Watson to win the Nobel Prize,
Writing as Heather Terrell, Marie also published the historical novels The Chrysalis, The Map Thief, and Brigid of Kildare.
In addition to these books, Marie Benedict has collaborated with Kate Quinn to produce an Audible book (novella) on Osla Kendall and Agatha Christie titled Smoke Signal and a second Audible book, on her own, titled Agent 355, about a Revolutionary War colonist, 18-year-old Elizabeth Morris, who defies her Tory parents to join the fight.

Biography—Victoria Christopher Murray (author website)

A native of Queens, Victoria earned a B.A. in Communication Disorders from Hampton University and an MBA from New York University. Victoria spent ten years in Corporate America before launching her entrepreneurial venture, a Financial Services Agency for Aegon, USA where she managed the number one division for nine consecutive years.
Dubbed a Christian Fiction writer because no one else was writing about religious topics, Victoria trailblazed the literary scene penning more than 30 novels, co-writing with other authors, and ghostwriting for top talent across the country.
Victoria lives in Washington, D.C. She is a jogger, doting grandmother, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Biography—Victoria Christopher Murray (author website)

The Divas
- Joy (2005)
- Diamond (2008)
- India (2008)
- Veronique (2009)
- Aaliyah (2009)

Interview, Washington Post

Terrell: Belle’s father fought for equality in the years of reconstruction after the Civil War. He was a big advocate of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, and he fought alongside people who are maybe a little bit better-known, like Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington.
And in response to this promise of equality, there was a horrible explosion of racism in our country — segregation and Jim Crow laws. And that’s what Belle had to deal with. That’s why she was forced to pass as White. The dream her father had of this equal world where people would be judged according to their merits and not the color of their skin, that promise kind of disappeared as Belle became an adult.

Interview, Washington Post

Murray: It was a horrible experience, but what was also so great about it is how we both knew how Belle felt. Because now we didn’t have to imagine it, we were living it. I mean, once I read about Belle da Costa Greene, I knew what she was going through. I knew that every day she went out of her house wearing a mask. I knew all the questions and things that she had to have inside, but she couldn’t ask out loud. Heather always says, “Belle could never be her authentic self.”
Terrell: Belle da Costa Green has been hovering at the periphery of my imagination for decades. Once I turned to writing exclusively about historical women, she was always there. But it did not feel right or appropriate for me to try and tell the story of a Black woman without a Black woman. I think, as an author of fiction, you can envision a lot. But there are certain stories that deserve to have a storyteller who has had those experiences themselves or had similar.

Interview, Washington Post

Terrell: But at the end of the day, when Belle put her head down on her pillow, she was a Black woman. She had to wear a White mask to survive in this racist world. She was really brought up by both of her parents to celebrate her Black heritage and the importance of equality.
It was very important to us to find a place for Belle to be her authentic self. She never had a family of her own. She couldn’t, because she couldn’t risk what her child might look like.
I spent a lot of time thinking about the sacrifices, sacrifice of her culture, sacrifice of her heritage, sacrifice of her personal choices, her family, in order to succeed in the world and pass. Victoria helped me understand what that weight would have been like.

Belle Greene's Letters to Bernard Berenson (4:00)

Cast of characters

Greene family :
- Belle de Costa Greene (Belle Marion Greener, father Richard)
- Brother Russell, studying engineering, sisters Louise and Ethel, teachers, youngest sister Teddy
- Mother Genevieve Fleet, with sisters Minerva, Adalaide
- Minerva is married to Uncle Mozart who stays in touch with Belle's father
"To be a Fleet was to be well educated (all of my aunts and uncles had gone to college) and hardworking (the women were all teachers and the men, all engineers). Fleets were understated in dress and presentation, connected to the community, mannerly in demeanor, and always dignified, no matter what treatment we encountered outside the bubble of our small world."

Cast of characters

Morgan Family
- J. P. (John Pierpont)
- Son "Jack," J. P. Junior
- Daughters Juliet (beautiful) and Louisa (favorite)
- Daughter Anne, unmarried, 32, who makes even high-fashion look matronly. She's suspicious of Belle, friends with Elsie de Wolfe, designer, and Bessie Marbury, literary agent. They have formed the first social club for women, the Colony Club, and support women's suffrage as well as female workers in various industries.
- Nephew Junius, bibliophile who introduces Belle to J. P.

Cast of characters

Bernard Berenson: an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance, graduate of Harvard. Although considered a Bostonian, his family originated from Lithuania, were Jewish.
His book The Drawings of the Florentine Painters was an international success, given to Belle by her father.
Among US collectors of the early 1900s, Berenson was regarded as the pre-eminent authority on Renaissance art.
Isabella Stewart Gardner was also a client.

Questions for discussion

The theme of "passing for white" is pervasive throughout this novel. Excerpts from the book:
Belle says that Gertrude, her friend from college “ . . . doesn’t need to assess every single moment of every single day against societal standards to ensure her behavior passes muster. She has no need to analyze her words, her walk, her manner, but I do.”
She also says: “Marriage is not something that I’ve really considered. I’ve always known that, because of my heritage, a traditional relationship would not be possible for me. Not only because of my family’s financial dependence but because a marriage means children, and that is something I cannot hazard. Without the fairer skin of my siblings, I could never risk bearing a child whose skin color might reveal my deception.”

Questions for discussion

So, why does Belle's mother make that decision?
What does it mean to Belle, specifically once she's J. P. Morgan's librarian?
What does it mean to her siblings, and most specifically to the youngest, Teddy?

Questions for discussion

But later in the book Belle throws a lot of that conformity to the wind by developing a bold style of dress, going on the party circuit and beating her male colleagues at their own game.
Why was she more comfortable doing it then?
Did her position at the library and support of J. P. give her the courage?

Questions for discussion

This book is very much about interpersonal relationships, and specifically about "passing." It was clearly a contentious issue within Belle's family.
How would you describe her relationships with family members and how did "passing" affect those relationships?

Questions for discussion

What about that relationship between Belle and Bernard Berenson? What drew them together? What forced them apart? Was he a cad? Was she naive?
What about Belle's relationship with men other than J. P. and Berenson, like the art experts, collectors, museum curators that she worked with?

Questions for discussion

Some of the more negative reviews of the book found it either slow going after the mid-point, or they found the dialogue stilted (or both). What's your perception of the style?

Breakout room question

In the end, do you think Belle was happy with her choices and decisions? Do you think she would have done anything differently?