I enjoy historical fiction and I enjoyed “The Personal Librarian” My Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. You go on a journey in the past with J.P. Morgan building his private library and how it got turned into the public library. The focus on this novel is on the main character Bella De Costa Greene who turns out is a black woman who is the caretaker and librarian of J.P. Morgan’s library in New York. Not only that by Bella must protect her white identity in a racist world. Bella goes on a journey of discovery her father’s new family, a romance with a married man, an interesting relationship with J.P. Morgan and the extraordinary passion she has for books that are rare.
The descriptions of the character’s Bella meets and the items she procures for Mr. Morgan is amazing. I want to go inside of this library and roam around gazing and smelling the books in this library. This was a great read for me.
If this seems like the type of book you would enjoy reading here is where you can get your own copy:
I purchased this book through Book of the Month Club. The opinions I express are my own and I was not influenced.
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