Sunday, June 13, 2021

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict; Victoria Christopher Murray


Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J P Morgan to be his personal librarian.  The first thing she has to do is organize the books and manuscripts he already owns...

Berkley and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published, so you can get a copy now.

Bella is black but she's light enough she pretends to be white.  Her mother is the one who insisted on that.  Mother thought they'd have a better chance in life if they hid their heritage.  She tells her to say her grandmother is Portuguese and that will account for the darkness of her skin.

Bella is very good at negotiating and getting the material she wants for the library.  Her employer becomes fond of her.

One thing Bella is not good at is choosing men.  She flirts with them all, wears bright fashions, and goes to bed with a few.  The man she fell in love with makes her abort the baby they created.  Suddenly he's not as charming as she thought.

She treasures her boss.  He teaches about everything and let's her make purchases with his money.  He also regularly gives her raises.  

But Bella has more heartbreak ahead.  Her one success in life is being the librarian..

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