Basic Information : Synopsis : Characters : Expectations : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : New Words : Book References : Good Quotes : Table of Contents : References
Basic Information:
Author: Marie Benedict
Edition: ePub on Libby from the Mountain View Public Library
Publisher: Berkley Books
ISBN: _
Start Date: October 13, 2022
Read Date: October 30, 2022
341 pages
Genre: Fiction-History, Osher
Language Warning: Low
Rated Overall: 3½ out of 5
Fiction-Tells a good story: 4 out of 5
Fiction-Character development: 5 out of 5
Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):
This fictionalized story of Belle Greene walks through her life and family. The story talks about how she became the librarian for JP Morgan’s personal library and eventually took it public after his death. But she had a secret-she lived as a white even though she was black. The story talks about the fear of discovery and suppressed feelings. She was not able to tell anybody, except for her own family, which also lived as white, except for her father who walked out on the family over this issue.
The tale goes on and talks about how she built the library from a very good one into a world class library. Some of the tactics such as offering a higher price in a pre-sale to get a highly sought after manuscript or using being the only woman in a room full of bidders. There is a failed love story where the person professed love, but was only in the relationship for sex and money.
Cast of Characters:
- Belle da Costa Greene (Belle Marion Greener)-main character in the story. JP Morgan’s personal librarian, who was black but lived as a white.
- Mama (Genevieve Ida Fleet)-
- Richard Greener-Belle’s father. In 1898, he became America's first Black diplomat to a white country, serving in Vladivostok, Russia. He went on to serve as an American representative during the Russo-Japanese War, but left the diplomatic service in 1905. This was during Theodore Roosevelt’s time as President. Roosevelt gets a lot of credit for resolving this war. I wonder how much Roosevelt and Greener crossed paths?
- Mozart Fleet-Belle’s uncle. Keeps in contact with her father Richard Greener
- Junius Morgan-nephew of JP Morgan. Introduces Belle to JP Morgan. Note: JP Morgan’s father was also Junius
- Jack (John Pierpont, Jr) Morgan-JP Morgan’s son and heir
- J.P. Morgan-super rich financier and art collector
- Edward Steichen
- Alfred Stieglitz
- Bernard Berenson-husband to Mary Berenson-collector for Isabella Stewart Gardner. Rumored to be a Jew. Family fled Russia (or Lithuania). He is 20 years older than Belle. They have an affair which leads to an abortion. He is not there to care for her. Later on in the story, there is speculation in that he sold Morgan Library secrets from what he gleaned from Belle Greene.
- Anne Tracy Morgan-youngest daughter of JP Morgan. The book portrays her as a lesbian. Antignostic to Belle.
- Elsie de Wolf-Friend of Anne Morgan. Artist, interior decorator.
- Bessie Marbury-represented Oscar Wilde. Very much a presence in the production of Broadway theater. Friend of Anne Morgan. One of the few who treated Belle as a friend.
- Mary Berenson-Bernard Berenson’s wife. According to the book, there was an arrangement where each can have their own lovers. Wikipedia notes that when asked, she noted that each liked to hurt each other.
- Ethel Harrison-Belle’s caretaker during her abortion.
- Isabella Stewart Gardner
- Recommendation: OSHER Book Club
- When: May 2022
- Date Became Aware of Book: May 2022
- How come do I want to read this book:Because it is an OSHER Book Club book
- What do I think I will get out of it? Not much. I have found that books about books or librarians or booksellers make for some pretty awful books. I am hoping this is different
Thoughts:
This story is a fictionalized biography of Belle da Costa Greene. I always wonder when I read something like this type of book-what is actual and what is made up. I think the authors, and there are two of them, have the basic facts down. But I am assuming almost all of the dialogue is made up. Also, there is a lot of shading in how the story is told. I wonder how favorable it would be if this story was told from a different vantage point.
The authors do freely admit that they try to fill in the gaps. There are many of the major story lines which I wonder about: are they based upon fact, speculation or fantasy? These include:
- Did Anna Morgan really feel antagonistic towards Belle Greene?
- Was Mary Berenson really happy that her husband was talking up with Belle?
- Did Bernard Berenson really sell the secrets of the Morgan Library which Belle had talked over with him?
- Did Belle really visit her father in Chicago?
- Who recommended Belle to JP Morgan?
I am taking this book more as a jumping off place to explore her life from more factual sources then these authors.
Chapter 1-Nov 28, 1905, Princeton
Introduction to who Belle Greene is. She is a librarian at Princeton who is a favorite of Junius Morgan, nephew of JP Morgan. She works in medieval manuscripts and early printing. Also it shows how much Belle’s mother has developed her sense of how to act. This shows in her relationships with her co-workers. Also it looks like she has a secret which does not get revealed until later.
Belle’s father was a profound influence on her, even if he was not part of her life. It was he who gave her a great love for the printed word as well as Renaissance art. Belle pictures being with old and rare books as moments of being in a sacred presence. Belle identifies with Aeneas from the Aeneid.
Junius Morgan comes to the point of his visit to the library at Princeton: I have recommended that he interview you for his [JP Morgan] newly created post of personal librarian. Interestingly, on the Morgan Library site, it says that her patron was Grace Hoadley Dodge, a philanthropist and neighbor of J. Pierpont Morgan. But that may have been with the Princeton Library.
Chapter 2-December 7, 1906, New York
The authors leak out some of the family history for the next half of the book. New York is where her mother and siblings live. But her Mom’s family is from Washington, DC. One uncle, Mozart, plays an important conduit between her father and her family. This was the Fleet family. the behavior of the Fleet family: never were we to raise our voices, and never were we to do anything that would make any of the adults have to raise their voices at us.
Belle arrives in New York, the night before the interview. Her mother preps her for the interview, how to look and how to speak. Belle’s background was studying to be a teacher, but her love was ancient work. It is her work at the Princeton Library which prepares her for this position at the Morgan Library. It is during this prep that Belle’s secret gets disclosed by Belle’s mother, and the premise for this story: A colored girl named Belle Marion Greener would never have been considered for a job with Mr. J. P. Morgan. Only a white girl called Belle da Costa Greene would have that opportunity.
And this is the root of the problem between her mother and father. One which they separated over. Her father is a prominent black lawyer and activist. Her mother wants her children to succeed. The family is fair skinned, so the mother has taken the road of living as a white, disguising their heritage. This seems hypocritical to her father and also incongruent with his advocacy of the need to treat blacks as equals. Your act goes against everything I stand for and everything I’ve worked for—” This comes to a head when the mother reports the family as white on the census. We need to keep fighting, and to keep proving what we are capable of.” “I disagree. It is time to surrender
And maybe one of the underlying questions in the book is So what was the harm in reporting ourselves as white, when we lived as whites? What is the harm of denying who you are and taking on another personna? The book does not delve into this, but the more underlying question, even deeper is, who are you?
Chapter 3-December 8, 1905, New York
Interview with JP Morgan. First taste of him.
William Caxton’s Le Morte Darthur by Thomas Malory is what Morgan wants above all the world. A digitalized copy.
Chapter 4-January 8, 1906, New York
Her first exposure to the Library-on the first day on the job. Looking at the pictures on the Morgan Library web site, it is immense and beautiful.
Chapter 5-January 8, 1906, New York
When Belle arrives home that night she gives her impressions to her family. While excited, she also experienced all day I had to quiet the voice inside my head filled with insecurities about my readiness for this task and my ability to work with a man as volatile and mercurial as Mr. Morgan. These she kept inside of her.
Her mother asks the question You’re still Belle? Belle says yes, but is wondering about it herself. She sees she still is living in a white world as a black masquerading as a white. She is the most like her Dad and there is a need to keep that in check.
She falls back to another celebration, her birthday where her Dad gives her a book: The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance by Bernard Berenson. This will influence her the rest of her life.
Her Dad was the first black to graduate from Harvard. He would chuckle as he told me tales about rowing down the Charles River with his friend Oliver Wendell Holmes.She misses her Dad. As it was Papa who made this prediction and who laid the groundwork for me to become Belle da Costa Greene, personal librarian to Mr. J. P. Morgan.
She is studying Latin to aid her in seeing if a work is authentic. How would she be authenticating material? This seems rather lame way.
Later her mother hands her a letter from her Uncle Mozart who has kept in touch with her father. Her father is now in Russia and has married a Japanese woman with a family.
Chapter 6-May 24, 1906, New York
Belle plays the game of anticipating what Morgan wants but not appearing to be too eager.
Goes through the Morgan family. First meeting of Anne Morgan who would dislike Belle.
When Morgan wants to be soothed, he asks Belle to read to him from an old book, a lot of times the Bible. Sort of a reverse parent. But also Belle realizes that at times, Morgan acts like a parent to her. Was Morgan religious? He was a life-long, devout Episcopalian. His mother’s father was a priest-also wrote Jingle Bells.
She gets invited to a party with the Vanderbilts to “know” Morgans, and soon her, enemies
Chapter 7-May 28,906, New York
Party at the Vanderbilts. Belle is uncharted waters. At the party. A black serving woman recognizes that Belle is black, acknowledges it and moves on without revealing Belle’s race. Belle realizes that she really does need to follow her mother’s dictum about how to act white. But Belle also knows that With the gift of the position I now hold, I am responsible to many more than just Mama and my siblings.
Belle also realizes that to hide, you need to blend in with the crowd, not stand out. But with this crowd, being seen is a way to hide. In order to assimilate with this crowd, I must be bold, daring to hide my differences in plain sight. I wonder if Benedict has read 39 Steps by James Buchan? This is his phrase.
She meets Morgan’s “enemies.”
Chapter 8-May 29, 1906, New York
Rehearses the night with her sister.
The authors talk about the impact of laws, even the ones which are not blatantly segregationist. Since Papa left, we have been living on the edge, but as whites, we surely have lived a better existence than if we’d lived the truth
Chapter 9-November 4, 1906, New York
Belle has been Morgan’s librarian for ten months. She talks about meeting the dealers, but still has a sense that she is considered inferior to other buyers.
On the other hand, Morgan’s moods no longer intimidate Belle. She considers them more to be managed than feared.
Saving the past for the future-Morgan’s thoughts on what he is trying to achieve.
Anne Morgan seems to know about Belle’s background, but does not reveal it, yet.
Chapter 10-November 5, 1905, Boston
Belle attends her first auction. She got the Bible she came for.
Chapter 11-February 9, 1907, New York
Belle goes to the opera with her brother. She sees Elsie de Wolf, Anne Morgan’s friend. deWolf is on an expedition to confirm that Belle is black.
Chapter 12-October 1-November 2, 1907, New York
An economic crash is coming and prices are dropping. So Morgan and Belle are buying collections at a faster pace. Even Morgan thinks this will be a bigger crash and will have a major impact on the economy.
Morgan is requested by the President to come up with actions to save the economy. During this time, Belle becomes Morgan’s confidant. Today, I am more than his librarian; I am his confidant.
Morgan says: My romantic entanglements always end badly, and I could never stand to lose you, Belle. You mean more to me than any woman, even more than my own family most of the time. I want you at my side—as my partner, my confidant, and my librarian—until the end.
Chapter 13-March 20, 1908, New York and Washington DC
Grandma Fleet has died. They are going to the funeral. First time in ten years Belle has been back in Washington DC. They will now need to make the transition back to being black. The family has to face the wider family. There is tension as the decision to live as whites did not sit well with the blacks.
And there is the reason why Belle’s Mom made the decision to live as a white: To be colored in America is a burden that I don’t want them to have to shoulder. … Segregation is really just slavery by another name, lynching is one of its proponents’ weapons, and we would be subjected to segregation and threatened by lynchings if we lived as colored anywhere in this country.
The visit at least has brought understanding. Belle feels like she is home and able to be herself. But she realizes this may be the last time she is here.
Mozart talks about Belle’s father with her. He talks about what makes her father burn red hot-the inequality he sees.
Chapter 14-May 2, 1908, New York
Belle meets the two prominent photographers-Edward Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz. They show her modern art and how photography has a similar projection. She flirts with them as well, but nothing serious. Her visiting a modern art museum infuriates Morgan. Morgan emphasizes that it is his name on the library, not hers. His library will not be a modernist library.
Chapter 15-December 2-10, 1908, London
Belle goes to London for her first overseas assignment to buy a lot of Caxtons-not the ones Morgan lusts after, still noteworthy. She is to attend an auction for these. But she takes the unorthodox step of asking the seller to sell her the Caxton collection before the auction. The owner agrees.
I don’t feel the same assessment of my color that I routinely experience, and constantly anticipate, in America. Perhaps London’s citizens don’t have the same need to categorize us by race as they do in America. I wonder how true this statement is?
Chapter 16-December 17, 1908, New York
She presents the Caxton collection to Morgan who is very pleased. Another almost romantic moment between Belle and Morgan. He then introduces the Berenson’s-Bernard and Mary. He is the author of the book which Belle’s father got her for her birthday.
Chapter 17-December 22, 1908, New York
Red party at an art dealer’s mansion. She gossips with the Huntingtons. Belle has a conversation with Berenson. She is taken by Berenson. Berenson notes that since everything is red, This party is a great equalizer. Belle’s thoughts after the party: I must get to know this man.
Belle’s thoughts on how she has gone from being concerned about being discovered to being the one who people want to be around. Only Anne has dared to challenge his verdict, but I’ve had no more of Anne’s suppositions as of late. After all, she’s a woman with secrets, and just like me, she should be careful throwing stones
Chapter 18-March 24, 1909, New York
Morgan wants Belle to go to the opera with Rachel Costelle, the step-daughter of Bernard Berenson. This is to pick up intelligence on the collection Berenson manages. But for Belle it is to find out more information on Berenson. She finds out from Costelle that Mary and Bernard Berenson love each other, but they are free to pursue other romantic affairs; she doesn’t believe people should be hampered by preconceived notions and expectations. Their marriage is very cosmopolitan, wouldn’t you say?. On Wikipedia, Mary Berenson says more that they took lovers to hurt each other.
Costelle is an advocate of the women’s suffrage movement. She says about Belle: You’re living a life of equality, and that’s what we’re fighting for.
Belle thinks that Without the fairer skin of my siblings, I could never risk bearing a child whose skin color might reveal my deception. And yet, when Belle becomes pregnant, she wants to have Berenson’s baby.
Belle is given a private tour with Berenson of the Metropolitan Museum. Bernard understands that a behind-the-scenes glimpse at my favorite museum is far more romantic than any lavish present or dinner date might be. Berenson is leaving for Italy. But before he goes, he would like dinner with Belle.
The ancients wanted the people to know that hubris can be a deadly crime,” he adds with a small smile.
Chapter 19-March 26, 1909, New York
Dinner with Bereson. She has had second thoughts as she feels Morgan might consider this a betrayal. She realizes he is seducing her. He attempts to seduce her. But she is resistant. But they agreed to see each other again.
Chapter 20-April-August 1909, New York
Belle now tries to be more outrageous. Also she gets more inebriated. But she does not find what she wants: speaking fearlessly does not yield the intimacy of connection, which is what I seek. Her mother is nagging her about her conduct. So Belle rents a cabin and sends her sisters and her mother away for eight weeks.
She reconnects with a couple of friends from Princeton: Katrina and Evelyn who are into the women’s suffrage movement.
Martha Washington Hotel for Women
Chapter 21-June 2, 1910, New York
Morgan brings Belle closer in, asking her to family functions, to the annoyance of Anne Morgan.
She seems to use the reputation of Morgan’s Library to get what she wants.
Morgan authorizes the trip, but on the condition it is not a pretext to see Berenson. Belle says it is not. Then there is a strange thing about Belle thinking Morgan is trying to intimidate Belle da Costa Greene. But it is Belle Marion Greener who is the one who is infatuated with Berenson. What does this mean? The black part of Belle is in love with Berenson. But she will not tell Berenson she is black.
Chapter 22-August 8-14,1910, London
Summer in New York and those who can escape it do. Belle has decided to stay. She hangs with her women suffrage friends. Isadora Duncan, a new friend I admired for her defiance of social mores and insistence on living life on her own terms. Apparently, there is a connection. On the other hand, if everybody lives on their own terms, what does that do to society?
She in turn is on her way to England to purchase some rare books. Then Italy to be with Bernson and discover both the romantic artistry there and romance with Berenson.
She meets up with Berenson in London. They have lunch with Berenson’s wife. She is accepting of Belle’s relationship.
She goes after the item she wants and makes innuendo that it is not the real thing. She gets it at the price she wants. Later on it seems that Belle wants to be known as being someone on the up and up. But, here she borderline lied upon her authority and status that a particular manuscript is a fraud in order to get the price she wants to pay for it.
Chapter 23- August 18, 1910, Verona, Italy
Belle feels comfortable around Berenson in Italy.
Berenson says that The beauty of these Italian churches inspired me to convert to Roman Catholicism. What was he before? Wonder how serious he is? Does he believe the tenants of the Church? The morality the church leads us to? Or is this a conversion such as going to a different political party?
We [Belle and Berenson] are creatures of the Renaissance, you and I. I think he means that they appreciate this art period. I do not think they would like to live then. He talks about sacred conversation with Belle. Sacred? When he is about to commit adultery?
They run into a person they both know. But Berenson diverts his attention.
Chapter 24-September 23, 1910, Orvieto, Italy
After several weeks of touring, Belle and Berenson have a discussion. Berenson thinks Belle is keeping a secret from him. Belle will not disclose her real secret, to anyone, even though she is tempted. Belle says to him, With others, I always feel I am in the process of reassembling the sundry parts of myself to present the most pleasing whole, but with you, I am simply myself, complete and authentic. My note on this is: liar!
Being close to Belle, Berenson is observing the unmade up Belle and has made comments that sounded more like prompts for disclosure than innocent reflections. I am thinking that when you have something to hide, innocent comments sound challenging.
We will find out later that Berenson is only in the relationship for himself and what he can gain. But for now, it sounds like he is head over heels for Belle.
Chapter 25-September 29-October 1, 1920, Venice, Italy
Belle is pregnant. What to do? She realizes this is not only her question, but Berenson’s. She would need to reveal who she was. When told she is pregnant, but not the colored part. He recoils and says SHE needs to take care of it. You’re going to have to do something about your condition.
Several things strike me: First Berenson feels it is Belle’s problem that she is pregnant and not his also. Next, he does not take any responsibility. Lastly, the life inside is referred to as “it.”
She remembers Morgan’s words-You do not have the luxury of making mistakes, Miss Greene.
Chapter 26-October 12, 1910, London
Belle awakes after having an abortion. She has also been battling an infection. What is dream, and what is real? Sounds like she is emotionally distraught. I think she wanted the baby, but could not face the world without Berenson. Berenson has sent a friend, Ethel Harrison with Belle. But she is more to report to Berenson than to comfort Belle.
Belle realizes that Berenson did not want to be with her in her time of need. He stays in Paris. It seems the relationship to which I felt inextricably intertwined has become unraveled. Or perhaps it was never the relationship I believed it to be
Chapter 27-October 26, 1910, New York
On the ocean liner trip back to New York. Bernard. Even the thought of his name wounds me afresh.
She meets Anne Morgan on the trip back and her friend Bessie Marbury. Anne gives a line of questioning to find out who Belle was with. Anne suspects her relationship with Berenson and invited him on board as well. It is some solace that Bernard realizes how terribly he’s disappointed me—and that he’s suffering. It would be unfair if I were suffering alone. Anne Morgan threatens Belle.
Chapter 28-December 14, 1910, New York
Upon coming back to New York, she gets drunk more often and she now takes up and sleeps with other men (and rumor has it women). Belle’s mother says she is getting reckless. But Belle and Berenson now write to each other-Belle being indifferent. I wonder how Belle hid her correspondence with Berenson from her mother and Morgan.
She is 31 and is taking care of her brothers and sister and mother. This is aggravating her.
Mother tells her about life in the south. How her father was the first black professor at the University of South Carolina. Her father was friends with most of the important people of the time. But with the end of Reconstruction, so was the end of life on campus. They were spit at as they left. Mother recognizes that their hold on a good life is precarious. One slip can send them back. That is the reason why she wants Belle to be careful, real careful.I realize that this has not been about sharing her interior life with an adult daughter: this is a mother’s cautionary tale. This is where Belle realizes that living as white is not what she wanted to do, but what she felt she must.
Chapter 29-April 20, 1911, New York
After
the mom talk, Belle is much more reserved. But she does go out with
other men. Berenson is in her thoughts.
Lady Johnstone is Morgan’s latest mistress-there are currently four. Johnstone is the only one Belle respects. Lady Johnstone says that Morgan says that Belle is the most important person in his life. He has respect and admiration for her.
Belle’s place of residence, along with her family’s which includes a couple brother-in-laws, has been moving up.
Belle has a chance to procure the book which Morgan really wants, Caxton’s Le Morte Darthur by Thomas Malory. A new bidder shows up, Henry Huntington-the railroad tycoon. He buys a Gutenberg Bible. This Bible is on display at the Huntington Museum in Pasadena/San Marino-I have seen it there. Belle wins the auction at an exorbitant price. She is the toast of the town.
Chapter 30-April 20, 1911, New York
Morgan greets her that evening. Morgan wants to get romantic with her. They both decide this is not in the best interest of their relationship.
Chapter 31-January 14, 1913, New York
Belle’s relationship with Morgan is worsening. She does not know why. He seems to think she is seeing someone else. He makes it clear that if she marries, she will be out of a job. Morgan feels like he owns her.
Belle thinks she lives as a white, but at night, when she goes to sleep, she knows she is black.
Chapter 32-April 1 and 10, 1913, New York
Belle is notified that Morgan has died in London. She feels her loss, not just the thought she might lose her job, but the mentor, father, and friend. Death is always a harsh taskmaster But deep in her mind, she also is a servant saying she must show her fitness to serve the Morgan family.
Anne treats her with disdain. Jack Morgan wants to make sure Belle knows she will continue on. There is a difference between JP Morgan and Jack. JP Morgan operated the library out of love for antiquities and its books. Jack looks at the value of collections. When Belle expresses concern for New York now that JP Morgan is gone, Jack says that she and he will continue his legacy.
Chapter 33-August 14 and September 13, 1913, New York
Belle is unsure of her footing with Jack. They do not agree on the goals of the Morgan Library. She spends time with her woman’s suffrage friends.
Berenson continues to express his love for her. I still long for the man I believed Bernard to be, I have no desire to be with the man he truly is. I wonder if I’ll ever find again the sort of connection that I shared with either Bernard or Mr. Morgan, however fleeting.
Jack reveals two provisions of Morgan’s will: 1) Belle is to be kept on as librarian for a minimum of a year-she assumes this is to help guide Jack. Jack said he was keeping Belle anyway; 2) She is to receive $50,000.
She breaks the news to her family. Interesting that the mother says it is considerate that Morgan is taking care of US, not Belle. Not only is the mother dependent on Belle, but so are the siblings. But all Belle can think of is how much she misses Morgan and how he made her into what she is. The mother says You made yourself into the person you’ve become. He gave you the opportunity, but every bit of your success belongs to you
Chapter 34-November 20, 1913, New York
There are things which Belle misses/grives: Morgan, Berenson, her baby and her father.
Interesting: Belle views her aborted child as ours, Berenson it is hers.
She sees how various black women are advancing both the colored cause as well as women’s rights. But she feels so out of place. I feel like there’s no real place for me inside my father’s world—or in the white one—and I am adrift.
She realizes that she needs to figure out who i'm going to become now that Mr. Morgan has passed away, how to be Belle da Costa Greene, maybe not authentically but completely. She realizes to become who she needs to be comfortable with, she needs to go back.
Chapter 35-December 4, 1913, Chicago
Note: the authors freely admit this is a conjecture that this happened. Belle did make a trip to Chicago for an unknown reason. Greener was in Chicago at the time. But there is no record that they actually met.
Belle reunites with her father in an empty restaurant. It has been 17 years since they have seen each other. She does not bring up her dichotomy of being white and black. But then it is talked about: I [Greener] realized that to achieve one dream, you had to forsake your core identity. Changing your name is easy. Changing your soul is impossible.
Greener says that society gave her no good choices. Either black and not follow her dreams or white and not be herself. He also says that You are more authentic than anyone I know. You have lived the life that was meant for you. Belle says that I know this life that I’ve lived is false at its core, and while I yearn for another. Greener’s says that I’m fighting for a time when you could have your same life as a colored woman.
Her father gives her permission and direction to follow her life’s work as a white person since people will not accept that a black can do it. You are one of the most important librarians and art historians—and one of the most successful self-made women—in this country, and what’s most important now is that you leave your own legacy.
Chapter 36-December 10 and 22, 1913, New York
Belle meets with both Berenson’s. Mary entreats Belle to start back the relationship with her husband. She does and realizes that she does not need to be romantically attached to him. Rather can be detached.
Given what Belle discovers later, I wonder if the authors had in mind that Mary was the brains behind the deceit they poetry Berenson having with Belle.
Chapter 37-December 23, 1913, New York
Jack comes back a day early from London. He and his wife are excited to discuss changes with Belle. Jack wants to whittle down the collection. Belle is concerned she will lose the manuscripts Morgan and her had been collecting. Jack wants to sell various art works, not the library collections.
It is evident Jack likes Belle-as an employee. Even when Anne confronts Jack, he will defend Belle. Jack says to Anne: You know what brought him the deepest pleasure was reading the voices of the past. Collecting the books, touching the letters and the documents. Belle thinks The deeper we each read, the more we would understand about this world we live in, and the more questions we had.
Anne talks with Belle alone. Belle realizes the reason why Anne hates her is that she had a tie-in with her father which Anne did not. But Anne also sees how Belle is keeping her father’s legacy and is satisfied with that. She will not reveal Belle’s secret.
Chapter 38-October 14 and December 2, 1916, London
Belle goes to London during World War I to evaluate rare books which are coming on the market. Jack has involved her in anything related to the library. When Belle talks of going to Paris to look for rare books, Jack forbids it. The war is very dire and dangerous.
She is also here to meet Besenson.
She is talking to the Duveens about manuscripts and a piece of art. She then realizes that Berenson has been feeding them information supplied by her. Also the Duveens offer her a cut of the sale of various pieces of art if she goes with them. She refuses. But now she realizes the treachery of Besenson. Is no one what they seem? This seems rather ironic coming from Belle’s mind, given how she lived her life.
Chapter 39-December 19, 1916, London
She will be going back to New York. Belle has sent a final letter to Bereson cutting off relations. Her take is that she needed to finish up a productive London trip and leave. I am only grateful that I never shared my real secret with him.
Bereson has finally come to London just as Belle is leaving. Belle decides to have one last talk with him. Belle confronts him and breaks off any hope for a relationship. Even though I can hear Bernard call my name, I keep my eyes fixed on the road ahead. I will not look back
Chapter 40-June 4, 1922, Hartford
Belle visits Morgan’s gravesite, alone. Her father had died and she cannot go to his funeral and so must talk to someone.
She talks about as a child going to church in Washington DC. She has memories of church and then remnants of Sunday school lessons in my mind. Interesting. Even when someone like Bella who obviously moved away from the church, still had these remnants of what was good and right. She only remembered the parts about heaven.
What she really wants to know from Morgan is how to convince Jack to take the library so the public can gain from it.
She wonders if Morgan and her father ever met. They both were very connected with the Grant Memorial. The tie between parent and child is unbreakable, despite the sort of relationship they actually shared. And this is how she will convince Jack.
Chapter 41_June 26, 1922, New York
Belle meets Jack at a high-end party. Ten years have passed since Morgan’s death. Belle asks how Jack will be making his family remembered. Belle leads the conversation into having the Morgan Library open to the public. I wonder, why at this event? Why not at the privacy of his office or in the Library?
Chapter 42-March 28, 1924, New York
Belle is being interviewed with the New York Times. She rarely gives interviews because of the risk of exposure. This is foremost on her mind. She has concluded that her mother is right, America is not ready for a black to be in a position of prominence. At the end of the interview, the reporter asks if Morgan and she had an affair. Her answer, and this is what was reported in the newspapers for real: Suffice it to say that we tried.
Epilogue-January 14, 1948, New York
Belle burns her letters. She asks several questions of herself. Such as will keeping these letters restore her relations, her images of the people whom she held dear? Her conclusion is no. And then she asks questions about society:
- What if our society could transform and evolve in the manner he [Richard Greener] dreamed about?
- Could our society change such that we would walk among each other, live with each other, and perhaps even love one another, no matter the color of our skin?
- And if that day did come to pass, would someone, someday, reach back in time to discover my story and proudly claim the real me, the colored personal librarian to J. P. Morgan whose name was Belle da Costa Greene?
Historical Note
We have endeavored to share the life and legacy of Belle da Costa Greene as accurately as possible. The authors point out that since Morgan and Belle were well known figures, there was much to draw from. I do not doubt that they got the facts right-except for what they noted. But there is also a lot of speculations, such as did Belle have an abortion? Did she really meet up with her father? What was she saying at Morgan’s grave? I think what the authors do is fill in with plausible dialogue and activities. This goes with the specific statement of we tried to imagine and portray the sacrifices and strains of her passing as white in a racist society hostile to African Americans.
They take a lot from Heidi Ardizzone’s biography. They also extrapolate from Certain letters and dates point to Belle having had an abortion and its long-lasting impact on her, but the details are not documented.
And then there is this telling statement that the author’s ended the relationship with Berenson when they wished it had. But the relationship went on for decades. Also they have documentation that Duveen and Berenson’s relationship would not pass the current standards for being above board. But they do not know if the conversation they portray really happened. we spun out a textured, complicated relationship, rife with the sexual tension we imagined must have been present given their personalities.
Their speculation around Anne’s sexuality that existed even during her lifetime. They built it up into fact.
As far as Belle’s passing, we had a very limited record of how she felt about passing in the racist world in which she lived and conversations emanating from those feelings. That is where Murray’s contribution came into importance as her grandmother would pass on occasion.
Marie Benedict’s Author’s Note
Benedict’s note puts her desire to write about Greene into perspective. She came to her by being exposed to her story from a docent at the Morgan Library. This was not a let's capitalize on the desire to write about a powerful Black woman, but something she wanted to do for several years.
Victoria Christopher Murray’s Author’s Note
Murray’s collaboration with Benedict was before the pandemic. But as Murray notes the background music was the racial dissonance of the social disturbances created in the Summer of 2020 by the killing of George Floyd.
The other thought which I was having was, did Benedict need Murray as cover for a white woman to write about a black female? It does not seem so. Murray provided the perspective of what it would be like to be a Black female passing as a white-Murray does not appear like she could. But her grandmother was light enough that occasionally she did.
Evaluation:
I have a mixture of thoughts on this book. This is because of my thinking about fictional writing about historical figures and events. That the the genre itself will introduce unnecessary bias. Let me start with the positives:
The authors have written an enjoyable and attractive story of Belle Greene, a black lady who passed herself off as a white and was employed as JP Morgan’s personal librarian. The book describes how Greene was able to build from a fairly good personal library, full of ancient manuscripts and materials into a library which was at the top of its class. Also the authors portray Greene as a human who tries to keep within the confines of the need to keep her identity hidden while having the human condition of needing affection. The storytelling is done well, keeping readers attention to the end of the book.
But Greene was a real person who wanted to keep her identity hidden. Towards the end of her life, she burnt all of her personal papers. She kept the business records. Also the people who received her personal correspondence also kept Greene’s letters. In reality, we know very little about Greene’s thinking or reactions to events, people or situations. We can see her accomplishments, which are many and still appreciated by those who visit the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York-I have not, but it is now part of my bucket list. Yet the book deals mostly in speculation about Greene’s personal life. I am left thinking, is this book a trustworthy story about her? I think with the general trajectory, yes. But it is mostly the authors’ thinking of who Greene is where they created a story to tell her life. So in so many ways, it is what the authors are hoping that Greene was like how they portrayed her.
I am glad to have read this book as it led me to an interesting and dynamic woman. My recommendation is do not stop at this book, as you will be left with only a fictional account. Find out more about Greene. Both Wikipedia and the Pierpont Morgan Library are both good places to further your thirst for more of Belle Greene.
Notes from my book group:
The whole story revolves around what Genevieve Fleet says to Belle: A colored girl named Belle Marion Greener would never have been considered for a job with Mr. J. P. Morgan. Only a white girl called Belle da Costa Greene would have that opportunity. Discuss what opportunities would have been available to Belle if she lived her life as a black.
How do you think Belle wanted to be remembered after her death? As Greene or Greener? Do you think it would make a difference in how she is remembered? What is in a name? As a note: I had a friend whose name is Greene. He once told me that when his family immigrated a couple generations before they changed their family name from Greenberg to disguise their Jewishness.
In an NPR interview, the authors are asked, do you think that passing makes you more free or less free? What do you think?
At the start of the book, Belle’s mother asks her father (chp 2): So what was the harm in reporting ourselves as white, when we lived as whites? What is the harm of denying a characteristic of yourself and taking on another personna? Who are you? Are you a name? A race? A gender? A class? This is the same question Belle’s mother asks in chapter 5, You’re still Belle? Was Belle ever being authentic? Belle’s father notes that Changing your soul is impossible. How does this show through in thor portrayal?
Belle talks about having to live with her insecurities. In public, she portrays herself as over-the-top confident. What insecurities did Belle have to live with? Why the front of confidence?
Richard Greener feels the incongruity of fighting for Black equality but having his family living as a white. The mother wants her children to succeed. Which do you think should be his priority-a just cause or family?
The Greene family, including Belle, is basing their lives on deceit (living as whites when they are black). Why do they live this way? When is it acceptable for a person to misrepresent themselves? Who is hurt when a person misrepresents themselves? Are there situations in our society and time where a person might find it advantageous to show themselves being a different person than they are?
Belle studied Latin, and then later on other languages. How would knowing these languages help her in her task as Morgan’s librarian?
Do you think Morgan knew she wasn't white? When J.P. Morgan looked at her, he never suspected this whole time that the person that he was entrusting his cultural legacy to was a person of color? (from an NPR interview)
Morgan is trying to intimidate Belle da Costa Greene. But it is Belle Marion Greener who is the one who is infatuated with Berenson. What does Belle mean? Can Belle split her person this way? Is there other places in the book where she splits who she is?
Berenson says that The beauty of these Italian churches inspired me to convert to Roman Catholicism. What was he before? Wonder how serious he is? Does he believe the tenants of the Church? The morality the church leads us to? Or is this a conversion such as going to a different political party?
What is the fascination about collecting old books-and other forms of writing? Is the content or material more important?
Would Belle have been able to pass as a white today? Think about social media and sites like Ancestry.com. Would there be a need to pass today? Would there be a different reason to pass besides race?
Belle observes other women in the upper class flirting at parties. She takes on that persona, flirting with men. Does Belle use it to fit in with that level of society or to obtain favorable treatment for her purchases? Do you think there is a transaction occurring in these instances? Where would the moral line be? Do you picture that using ones sexuality would be acceptable in the early 1900’s? Is it acceptable today? If there is a difference in answers, what changed?
Belle says I don’t feel the same assessment of my color that I routinely experience, and constantly anticipate, in America. Perhaps London’s citizens don’t have the same need to categorize us by race as they do in America. How true do you think it was in the early 1900’s in the United States? In England? How true is it now? Is there a reason for this kind of assessment? Belle thinks that social and economic class may be the reason. What do you think? Is this really a form of the caste system? How do you make an initial assessment of a person?
Describe and contrast Belle’s and Berenson’s reactions to Belle being pregnant. What drives each person’s reactions. Why did Belle get an abortion?
Belle admired for her [Isadora Duncan’s] defiance of social mores and insistence on living life on her own terms. How widely can defying social convention be taken without a society breaking apart? When is it good for society to have its conventions defied?
Why do you think this book was written as a fictional book? What difference would it have made in the telling of Greene's story? Do you think the dialogue and individual actions are accurate or something which makes the story flow? Would it make a difference in your perception of Belle if parts of this story were made up or the facts bent?
How do you want your life to change because you read this book?
Many of the questions below are either from or adapted from LitLovers.
Why the title of The Personal Librarian?
Does this story work as an accurate means to tell Bella Greene’s story?
Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying? Predictable?
Which character was the most convincing? Least?
Which character did you identify with?
Which one did you dislike?
Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?
In what context was religion talked about in this book?
Was there anybody you would consider religious? How did they show it?
Why do you think the author wrote this book?
What would you ask the author if you had a chance?
What “takeaways” did you have from this book?
What central ideas does the author present?
Are they personal, sociological, global, political, economic, spiritual, medical, or scientific
What evidence does the author use to support the book's ideas?
Is the evidence convincing...definitive or...speculative?
Does the author depend on personal opinion, observation, and assessment? Or is the evidence factual—based on science, statistics, historical documents, or quotations from (credible) experts?
What implications for you, our nation or the world do these ideas have?
Are these idea’s controversial?
To whom and why?
Describe the culture talked about in the book.
How is the culture described in this book different than where we live?
What economic or political situations are described?
Does the author examine economics and politics, family traditions, the arts, religious beliefs, language or food?
How did this book affect your view of the world?
Of how God is viewed?
What questions did you ask yourself after reading this book?
Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
What was memorable?
Reading Groups General Fiction Guide
Readers Guide from Penguin Books:
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Discussion Questions
1. How might you explain Belle’s rise to such breathtaking heights in society and her profession at a time when women—especially African American women—faced such blatant discrimination and exclusion? Did Belle possess certain personality traits that yielded this incredible outcome? If so, what are they? What sorts of outside influences contributed to her ascent?
2. In some ways, Belle’s parents had somewhat unique experiences or backgrounds for African American people during this time period. What kind of reaction did you have to her parents’ histories? How might those histories have impacted Belle, even when she had not been told the details of her parents’ pasts?
3. How did you view Belle’s relationship with her mother? Do you think Belle resented her mother, or did their relationship change over the course of the book such that they came to a place of understanding? If so, what was Belle’s turning point with her mother?
4. How would you describe Belle’s position among her siblings? How did you feel about her relationship with them and her responsibilities to them?
5. What sort of reaction did you have to Belle’s relationship with her father? Do you think Belle ever felt deserted by her father in the same way her siblings did? Why or why not?
6. What sort of pressure do you think Belle might have experienced from the rumors about her true ethnicity? Do you think J. P. Morgan heard the rumors? Do you think he knew she was passing as white and decided to ignore it, or do you think he was unaware of her heritage?
7. What do you think really happened romantically between Belle and J. P. Morgan? Do you agree with the portrayal in the book?
8. How would you describe the attraction between Belle and Bernard Berenson? What were the attributes that drew them together and, ultimately, forced them apart? How did you feel about their relationship—and Belle’s ability to have a partner and family of her own?
9. What surprised you the most about Belle’s life? About her time period?
10. How familiar were you with passing before reading this novel? Has your understanding of the reasons and sacrifices behind it altered after reading about Belle’s life?
11. What sacrifices did Belle make by choosing to follow her mother’s path? What advantages did she gain?
12. Before reading this book, were you familiar with the Civil Rights Act of 1875 or the efforts toward equality that occurred during Reconstruction? Did you have any understanding of what transpired in the years after Reconstruction? What might have happened in the United States in the decades that followed if the Civil Rights Act of 1875—along with the many efforts at equality that occurred during Reconstruction—had not been overturned?
13. How do the racial issues and events in the book relate to events happening today?
14. In the end, do you think Belle was happy with her choices and decisions? Do you think she would have done anything differently?
New Words:
- Crenellated : (of a wall or building) having battlements.
- Mien: a person's look or manner, especially one of a particular kind indicating their character or mood.
- Triptych: 1 : an ancient Roman writing tablet with three waxed leaves hinged together 2 a : a picture (such as an altarpiece) or carving in three panels side by side b : something composed or presented in three parts or sections; especially : trilogy.
- Coquetry: flirtatious behavior or a flirtatious manner.
- The Aeneid by Virgil
- The Odyssey by Homer
- Le Morte Darthur by Thomas Malory
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
- The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance by Bernard Berenson
- De Oratore by Cicero’s
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
- The White Problem by Richard Greener
- Harriet, the Moses of Her People by Sarah Hopkins Bradford
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
- The Souls of Black Folk By W. E. B. DuBois
- An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene’s Journey from Prejudice to Privilege by Heidi Ardizzone
- The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
- Bernard Berenson: A Life in the Picture Trade by Rachel Cohen
- Uncompromising Activist: Richard Greener by Katherine Reynolds Chaddock
- Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates
- A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life by Allyson Hobbs
- Last Line: More than anything, we hope The Personal Librarian inspires discussion about these important issues, conversations that will foster understanding, compassion, action--and ultimately change.
- The written word could act as an invitation to free thought and the broader world. Chp 1
- Segregation is really just slavery by another name, lynching is one of its proponents’ weapons, and we would be subjected to segregation and threatened by lynchings if we lived as colored anywhere in this country. Chp 13
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Chapter 40
- Chapter 41
- Chapter 42
- Epilogue
- Historical Note
- Marie Benedict’s Author’s Note
- Victoria Christopher Murray’s Author’s Note
- Marie Benedict’s Acknowledgments
- Victoria Christopher Murray’s Acknowledgments
- Readers Guide
- About the Authors
References:
- Publisher's Web Site for Book
- Author's Web Site
- Wikipedia-Book
- Wikipedia-Author
- Amazon-Book
- Amazon-Author
- Barnes and Noble
- GoodReads-Book
- GoodReads-Author
- NPR Review
- Kirkus Review
- Publisher’s Weekly
- Book Reporter review
- Richland Library
- YouTube-BookReporter Interview
- Richard Greener’s web site run by Christian K Anderson
- Genevieve Ida Fleet Wiki Family Tree
- Morgan Library
- biography of Greene
- resources page.
- Belle da Costa Greene Exhibition
