The Personal Librarian: A GMA Book Club Pick

Written by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

Narrated by Robin Miles

Over one million copies sold!

The Instant New York Times Bestseller! A Good Morning America* Book Club Pick!

Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR! Named a Notable Book of the Year by the Washington Post!

“Historical fiction at its best!”*

A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Release date: Jun 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9780593409701

Marie Benedict

MARIE BENEDICT is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Queens of Crime, The Mitford Affair, Her Hidden Genius, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, The Only Woman in the Room, Lady Clementine, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and with Victoria Christopher Murray, the Good Morning America Book Club pick The Personal Librarian and the Target Book of the Year The First Ladies. All have been translated into multiple languages, and many have been selected for the Barnes & Noble Book Club, Target Book Club, Costco Book Club, Indie Next List, and LibraryReads List. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

[brandeemw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh my. I appreciate the idea, thoughts, and efforts that went into manifesting this hidden truth into revelation! As a newfound lover of historical fiction, this will definitely go down as a favorite of mine. Much appreciation to both authors. The beautiful authors' notes brought tears to my eyes.

[sjtayloraddtocart · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Robin Miles is that girl when it comes to Black historical fiction narrators. Her voice brings depth, dignity and just the right emotion to every scene. Another great performance from a narrator who truly understands the assignment.

[Danice Stone · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very good novel, narration & storyline was excellent. I felt for the main character

[Diamond Jones · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book! I will definitely read other books from each others.

[Sharon Stephenson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome read! I could not put this book down. It is a must read!!!

[jamesmikealhill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Maybe 4 and a half, but I rounded up. It's got everything I like in a book: well-developed characters, history, and books. Recommended.

[sanyamakadi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well-written combination of historical fiction and personal reflection on civil rights and personal identity. I also love the fact that Marie Benedict was interested in writing this story and knew full well that she could not do so as a white writer.

[skraft001 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The true historical fiction account of Bella da Costa Greene - the personal librarian to JP Morgan and responsible for building the collection. Very interesting reading of the process and items procured for the collection. Her parallel theme of her fear of being found out to be a colored woman became tedious in its repetition.

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Solid historical book

[kalliegrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was not familiar with Belle before this, but how fitting her name for her profession and circumstance. I enjoyed her spirit and brashness in acquiring items for the library and dealing with the upper crust. I didn't understand her tendency towards old married white men. Overall very interesting, especially the white passing aspect of her life.

[janismack · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Story of J.P.Morgans’s personal librarian Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who had to hide her true identity and pass as white to leave a lasting legacy for J.P. Morgan.

[mapg.genie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In 1905 a young woman working at the library at Princeton University, an all male institution, is offered a position as the personal librarian for J. P. Morgan, collector of rare manuscripts, books and artwork. Not only is she a woman in a male world, she is also technically black and is forced to hide that identity as her skin is light, which she attempts to disguise with Portuguese heritage, but she walks a tightrope. She succeeds, but the territory was very daring and dangerous. She is intelligent and witty and captures the hearts of many.

At the end the co-authors explain their method of bringing this unusual, but important story to fruition.

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A quite interesting fiction version about a mixed race woman crossing the color line and helping to create the J P Morgan Library. Of added interest, it was written in collaboration by a mixed race team of authors.

[prudencegoodwife · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Personal Librarian is another great read - historically accurate - strong character in Belle to overcome so many obstacles, hiding her identity as a woman of color - in plain site. A another great novel from this writing team.

[carriewuj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5? Fascinating account of an unknown (to me!) woman's life, Belle Da Costa Greene - one of those buried in history who had a huge impact, but was overshadowed by the men around her, here JP Morgan and his son/heir Jack. Loving all things library, I was intrigued by the title and was so interested to learn about a library that (shame on me) was not on my radar, though I am sure I have walked past it in NYC. It began as a personal collection (hence the personal librarian) as Morgan and all the robber-barons of his time began to buy up precious artifacts (manuscripts, paintings, objects from the Renaissance and other important eras) to legitimize their cultural standing, not to mention show off their worth. Belle's story, told by her begins in 1905 when she was hired by Morgan and ends with the epilogue in 1948, two years before her death, though the major focus is 1905-1913 while JP Morgan was alive and her boss. After that she worked for Jack and the biggest mention there was making the library open to the public in 1924. In the short span she worked for the elder Morgan, her influence was astounding. She personally acquired paintings, manuscripts, etc. for him by attending auctions, meeting with dealers, visiting owners. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for these items was vast and impressive, especially in an age before Google. The amount of scholarship and study must have been enormous, but she was highly motivated. Sometimes the story bogs down in the art-y detail, but the authors also do a good job of detailing all the social mores, fashion, parties and lifestyle of the Gilded Age and what is essentially America's 'royalty.' The sums of money for the time were mind-boggling ($50,000 for a single manuscript). That was all Belle's professional life, but her personal one is fascinating too: she was actually Black 'passing' for white. Originally named Belle Marion Greener, and daughter of the first Black man to graduate Harvard, (Richard Green) she and her brothers and sisters 'became white' at her mother's insistence and manipulation after the marriage broke up and they moved from DC to NYC. Genevieve was certainly reading the signs of the times as segregation started to become the norm in our nation, but Belle often speaks of the cost of that decision. First, she was always living in fear of discovery, which would have tanked her entire family and would have had dire, even life-threatening consequences. (to explain their olive skin, they family claimed Portuguese heritage - again no Google to check!) Second, she could never marry and have children, at least not in the circles she moved in, because if latent genes surfaced that gave the baby darker skin, she would be found out. Third, the family had to cut ties with all other family (including her father) to maintain their charade. That Belle pulled it off was a triumph over those she worked for and among and shows that people see what they want to see. Another 'shocking' facet of her life was her relationship with a married, much older Bernard Berenson, renowned art critic. When she was a child her father gave her Berenson's book on Renaissance art and that sparked her love of the topic and led to her career (according to this story, at least) but of course none of that could ever have been shared with him. So quite a story here, maybe a little too heavy on detail? but one I'm glad crossed my path for the historical knowledge I gained and the interest it sparked to learn more. Should be noted that this is historical fiction and much artistic license was taking in creating Belle's character since she left so little documentation about her personal life behind. The authors make this clear at the end with notes and explanation.

[yarncatsnbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very well written.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this audiobook. The narrator did a good job of voicing the main character but I felt some of her other character's voices were stilted.

Belle da Costa Greene was born as Belle Marion Greener. Her parents were black but her mother and the children were light skinned. Her mother wanted the family to pass as white but her father, a lawyer and black activist, was against it. In the book this was claimed to be the cause of their separation when Belle was sixteen years old. From that time on Belle passed as white, taking the middle name of da Costa to claim Portuguese heritage to explain her darker skin colour. It was while working in the Princeton University Library that she met Junius Morgan, J. P. Morgan's nephew. Junius recommended her to his uncle to act as librarian for the large collection of rare books and manuscripts that Morgan was amassing. Belle went on to mingle with the moneyed class in New York City and elsewhere as she acquired works of literature and art for Morgan. She was paid very well for her work and when Morgan died he left her the sum of fifty thousand dollars. Belle continued working in the library after J. P. Morgan's death and convinced his son to open the library to the public. The authors conjecture that there was a sexual attraction between Morgan and Greene but that it was never acted upon. They do give Belle a lover, married man and Renaissance art expert Bernard Berenson, with whom Belle got pregnant but had an abortion. Belle could not have a marriage or children of her own because of the risk that children might be darker than she was. She did financially support the rest of her family, including a nephew who was born in her home. Before her death in 1950, Greene destroyed all her personal papers.

The authors (Marie Benedict who is white and Victoria Murray who is black) wrote the book together because they felt that a solo author, whether black or white, couldn't do the life of Greene justice. It must be hard to co-write a book but they did a good job. I felt that some of the dialogue and Belle's thoughts were rather stilted but others have praised the book whole-heartedly.

[booklover1801 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"The Personal Librarian," co-written by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, is a fictionalized account of the life of Belle da Costa Greene, who helped J. P. Morgan amass a unique collection of rare manuscripts, paintings, and other works of artistic and historical significance. Greene was born Belle Marion Greener, and her ancestry was African-American, a fact that her mother, Genevieve, urged her to hide. Belle and her siblings passed as white to take advantage of the many opportunities that would otherwise have been denied them. Because her skin was "dusky," Belle falsely claimed that she had Portuguese forebears. Her father, Richard, a Harvard-educated civil rights activist, left his wife and children because he resented Marie's insistence that she and their children deny their heritage.

The book's premise is fascinating, especially since most people have never heard of Belle de Costa Greene. Alas, Belle does not earn our unalloyed sympathy. To her credit, she dutifully supports her mother and siblings financially. However, she also revels in her brilliance and ability to size up her competitors; enjoys showing off her glamorous wardrobe; flirts with powerful men to get her way; and has an affair with a man of questionable morals. Only later in life does Belle seek to redeem herself by engaging in philanthropic activities.

J. P. Morgan comes across as almost completely one-dimensional. He is a selfish man who is fiercely competitive and aggressive. His regard for Greene is largely dependent on her ability to procure for him the objects that he desires for his collection. In addition, there are passages that deal with the fight for women's suffrage, and Benedict and Murray stress that, in the early twentieth century, intolerant Americans regarded Jews and black people as second-class citizens. Unfortunately, instead of exploring these topics with a degree of subtlety, the authors drive them home in a heavy-handed manner. Its flaws notwithstanding, "The Personal Librarian" is an intriguing account of an extraordinarily talented and ambitious woman who helped transform Manhattan's Pierpont Morgan Library into a world-class cultural institution.

[anaraguard · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Two authors wrote this historical novel, and it feels like it. Chapters vary wildly from one to the next and all too many of them have historical facts awkwardly shoved in, as if to prove that they did their research. Although there was a compelling figure behind this novel, the book itself is not compelling.

[dorritt_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An entertaining and unobjectionable fictionalization of the true story of Belle da Costa Greene, the respected and celebrated librarian responsible for helping JP Morgan assemble his formidable library in turn-of-the-century New York - who was, in fact, Belle Greener, a black woman passing as white.

I'm always intrigued by the choices that authors make when fictionalizing historical personages. Authors Benedict and Murray have chosen perhaps the safest path, characterizing Greener as bold but not too bold (she's saucy but knows better than to offend her mentor), passionate but not too passionate, paranoid about being discovered but not so paranoid that she takes drastic precautions, such as disowning her family. Not that I'm dinging their choices. There's nothing here that feels offputtingly anachronistic, and Greene's struggle to reconcile the radical ideals of her father with the conservative rationalizations of her mother authentically represents both sides of the issue. Just saying that other authors might have crafted this into quite a different story ... something more nuanced and complex, but probably also harder to market.

And there's more here to enjoy than Greene's story. The authors have incorporated an exploration of the considerations involved in assembling & curating a large collection, insights into the history of rare manuscripts, and an opportunity to gape at the excesses of the uber-wealthy (the "red party" that Greene attends is particularly outrageous). All this was enough for me to forgive the relatively pedestrian writing style, shallow characterizations, and lackluster dialog.

While Benedict and Murray may have chosen a relatively safe and conservative interpretation of the historical facts, at least they've shaped them into an entertaining and informative read.

[elizabethcromb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fascinating novel woven around the facts of the life of a woman in early 20th century America as she grew up living the life of a white female but she and her family being of coloured background. Her achievements in gaining an education and subsequently becoming the librarian of a private collection of art and historical manuscripts owned by wealth businessman J.P. Morgan was very well written with the two authors exploring her challenges, dreams and achievements across the decades.

[mojomomma_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Belle de Costa Greene is hired as a personal librarian/curator to build the collection of the Pierpoint Morgan Library for J.P. Morgan. Her secret is that she is African American, but passes as white. She explains her olive coloring as "Portuguese." She becomes quite successful in securing rare manuscripts for a very grumpy and demanding Morgan, while hiding her secret for everyone.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book on CD narrated by Robin Miles


As she has done with other women “lost in history,” Benedict shines a light on a little-recognized woman who had enormous influence on American culture. Belle da Costa Greene was J P Morgan’s “personal librarian,” tasked with curating and expanding his collection of rare manuscripts, books and art works, especially those dating from the Renaissance. As his librarian, Greene was required to attend auctions and society balls as a means of becoming friendly and known in the rarified world of high-stakes art collecting. Her success at beating the “boys at their game” was celebrated in news articles on both sides of the Atlantic. So, she was hardly “lost in history.” But … what no one knew was that Greene was born Belle Marion Greener, the daughter of African American parents.

I found this a very interesting look at America in the Gilded Age. I was unaware of the early Equal Rights Act (enacted just at the end of the Civil War), and how it was defeated after offering such promise. It’s no wonder that Belle’s parents left the south for New York and greater opportunity for themselves and their children. The difference in approach between Mr and Mrs Greener was also interesting to me; while she made the decision to register the family as white in the census, her husband embraced his role as a leader in equal rights, fighting AS a black man and was incensed by her decision.

I did get pretty tired of the authors constantly reminding me of the high stakes for Belle and her family if her true identity as a black woman was discovered. I got the first time, or certainly by the third time. I didn’t really need a reminder in virtually every chapter!

I’m glad that Benedict partnered with Victoria Christopher Murray, an African American author, for this work. I wonder why Benedict’s name came first on the cover, though.

Robin Miles does a fine job of performing the audio version. She has clear diction and sufficiently differentiates the characters, so I wasn’t confused about who was speaking.

[maggieflo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is interesting historical fiction about Belle da Costa Greene who was the first librarian for JP Morgan. With his wealth, he amassed a large collection of books, manuscripts and bibles and he required a professional with bibliographic expertise to manage the collection. Belle had worked at Princeton university as a librarian and won the job. Her role evolved over the years to the point where she was travelling to Europe to auctions to acquire priceless works coveted by Morgan. She became well known for her knowledge and as a tough negotiator who often out smarted her colleagues with her tactics. For this time period, 1910 forward, she was breaking the glass ceiling as an independent, well paid, famous woman of influence and power. After Morgan’s death, she was able to convince his son Jack to open the library to the public with a large endowment. To this day, it is known as the Morgan library and museum in downtown New York.
The problem I had with the book was the main character, I did not like her and the way she was portrayed. She spent her life hiding the fact that she was mixed race at a time when blacks were regarded as second class citizens. I found her family history really interesting but her fictionalized character left me cold

[fromthecomfychair · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's a great story, and was a quick read, but I can't say it's great literature. It makes me want to read the biography the authors based some of it on.

[dara85 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Belle becomes the personal librarian to the collection of J. P. Morgan. She negotiates buys to add to his collection of rare books and manuscripts. Belle harbors a secret and is frightened of the consequences of the secret being revealed, as she is the breadwinner in her large family. Belle has an affair with gentleman also interested in books with disastrous results.
She continues to serve Mr. Morgan until his death and then his son, as he takes over the library. This historical fiction is based on the true story of Belle de Costa Greene and many of the events did happen.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great historical fiction and many of the issues that Belle faced (in 1908-1948) are sadly still around. This book would be an excellent read at any time but is particularly a propos right now.

[creighley_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian, was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation.
In her twenties, Belle is hired by J.P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and art work for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York society and one of the most powerful persons in the art and book world, know. For her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.

[flourgirl49 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A young woman who is black but very light-skinned and who passes as white becomes the personal librarian to J.P. Morgan as he builds his library of precious manuscripts, books, artwork, etc. It's a fictionalized account of Belle de Costa Greene who eventually became the directress of the library after Morgan's death. Interesting and historically significant.

[labfs39 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Belle da Costa Greene was born Belle Marion Greener, a member of one of the most prominent Black families in Washington, DC., the Fleets, and the daughter of Richard Greener. He was the first Black graduate of Harvard University and was a prominent lawyer and activist for racial equity. Belle's mother was less hopeful and insisted that the Greener children be raised as white. Her father left, and Belle became da Costa Greene, granddaughter of a Portuguese grandmother, thus explaining her dark complexion. The challenge of "passing" was to define much of her life.

In 1905 she was hired by J.P. Morgan to be his personal librarian and spent the rest of her professional life curating the collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library. She was incredibly successful and renowned as an expert on illuminated manuscripts and as a shrewd bargainer, making millions of dollars of acquisitions for the library. Her legacy includes making the Morgan Library's collections available to the public in her role as director.

This historical novel is written in the first person, a daring (in my mind) choice for a character whose real-life counterpoint destroyed all her personal papers before her death, thus leaving little of her voice behind her. I wish that the authors had included a bibliography of their sources. It is an engaging read, however, and the decision to co-author the book with both a white and a Black author allowed for perspectives on both sides of Belle's racial identity.