Books Set in Europe and North America: Germany and Alabama, United States

The German Wife, by Kelly Rimmer (2022)

Read:  August 28, 2022

4 Stars

Books Set in Europe; England

A Slow Fire Burning, by Paula Hawkins (2021)

Read: August 25, 2022

4 Stars

Books Set in the North America, United States

Justice on the Brink, by Linda Greenhouse (2021)

Read: August 21, 2022

5 Stars

Books Set in North America: United States: New York, New York

Snow in August, by Pete Hamill (1997)

Read: August 21, 2022

5 Stars

Books Set in North America: New York

The Personal Librarian, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (2021)

 

This novel is a fictional account of Belle da Costa Greene, born Belle Marion Greener.  She was born in 1879 in a Black family, although both parents were very light-skinned as was she and her siblings.  Her father, Richard T Greener, was the first Black graduate of Harvard University and spent his life advocating for racial equality.  Her mother, Genevieve Fleet, came from a prominent family, but didn’t want her children to suffer from racial discrimination.  She made the decision to raise her family as white.  Belle’s parents separated over this difference.

 

Genevieve changed their name from Greener to De Costa Greene, adding a fictional Portuguese grandmother to explain their olive-toned skin.  The family then moves into a white neighborhood and pass as white.

 

Through her friendship with a Morgan relative, Belle landed a job as J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian.  She quickly learned the ropes for acquiring rare books and artwork.  Morgan trusted her vision and she traveled to Europe to negotiate additions to Morgan’s extensive collection.  Along the way, she rubbed shoulders with New York’s elite.  To keep her job and her reputation in this life, however, Belle had to keep secret that she was passing for white.  This is the main theme of the novel.

 

On every page, Belle expresses her anxiety that she might be discovered, and her secret revealed.  For this reason she feels that she can never marry.  She fears that she may give birth to a dark child.  The book notes that her sibling marry and have children, so this fear she has seems a bit unfounded.  Instead, the novel notes that her love interest was the married Italian Renaissance art expert Bernard Berenson.  In the afterwards, the authors note that, while it is known that she did indeed have a relationship with Berenson, much of what they portray is speculation.  I think this does injustice to both Belle and Berenson.

 

I am probably one of the few people who didn’t particularly care for this book.  I didn’t find Belle that likeable.  She comes off as being too good, but is clearly conflicted by her passing as white, especially since her absent father was such an advocate for civil rights.

 

This book did, however, pique my interest in Belle da Costa Green née Belle Marion Greener and I will do some of my own research to learn more of this woman.

 

Read: August 9, 2022

2 Stars

 

Books Set in the Middle East

The English Teacher, by Yiftach Reicher Atir (2013)

Read: August 1, 2022

3 Stars