Writing: 3/5 Characters: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5
I disliked this book and eventually gave up reading it when I got about 2/3 of the way through. It is the fictionalized history of Belle da Costa Greene — JP Morgan’s personal librarian — but the richly populated details of her personal and inner life seemed far more related to Benedict’s idea of how Greene would feel (or maybe how she imagined her readers would like to think Greene would feel) and not to the way all the available data about Greene would lead one to believe.
The real Belle lived her whole life as white, despite being born to colored parents and having a “C” for colored on her birth certificate. Her secret was only discovered posthumously. She burned all of her personal papers before her death, so the only information on her must be gleaned from her letters to others, her professional papers, and any news coverage of her at the time. She was in her 20s when J.P. Morgan plucked her from her job at Princeton and made her his personal librarian where she managed and grew a multi-million dollar collection. A rare-book and illuminated manuscript expert at a time when the field was almost exclusively men, she was known as stylish, clever, and determined. The early part of the book was very engaging — I loved hearing about the auctions, and the masterpieces, and the collectors she met. But it kind of went downhill (IMHO) from there as she entered into an affair with a married man which launched a set of other events which seemed to impact her heavily.
I haven’t read the personal letters that apparently “hint” at some of these things (they are not available online yet) so I can’t say how on target the fictionalization is, but from everything that I have read about Greene, the novel ascribes far more base emotionality than she possessed. Not every woman is a mass of anxiety and insecurities inside, or ready to liquefy into a puddle when a handsome man tells her he loves her. From all accounts, Greene was a truly extraordinary woman — especially for her time — and I don’t see why we would want to distract from her knowledge and accomplishments with overwrought behavior when there is no evidence at all that she ever felt or behaved that way!
I know a lot of people who absolutely love everything Benedict writes, so this is probably a minority opinion — but it is mine! By the way, the Morgan Library and Museum is opening a Belle da Costa Greene Exhibition in Fall 2024! That I would be interested in seeing.
Books to look forward to ... 