J.P. Morgan鈥檚 librarian hid her race. A novel imagines the toll on her.
Some books leave you wondering why the author has chosen to tell this particular story, and why now. This is emphatically not the case with 鈥淭he Personal Librarian,鈥� a novel about the woman who helped shape the Morgan Library鈥檚 spectacular collection of rare books and art more than a century ago. It quickly becomes clear why two popular authors, Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, have teamed up to tell this important, inspirational story.聽
Belle da Costa Greene鈥檚 success in the almost exclusively male world of art and rare book dealers was an unusual feat for a woman in the early 20th century. But what makes it even more extraordinary 鈥� and such rich material for historical fiction 鈥� is the secret she harbored throughout her long career:聽She hailed from a prominent, light-skinned Black family, many of whose members had chosen to pass as white.聽
鈥淭he Personal Librarian鈥� reminds readers that this decision was not made lightly. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act in 1883 鈥� a ruling that ushered in Jim Crow segregation and gave聽white supremacy and racial聽discrimination聽legal cover,聽the聽ramifications聽of which聽are felt to this day 鈥� few聽opportunities were open to anyone classified as nonwhite.
Why We Wrote This
How much would you be willing to sacrifice in order to advance? At the turn of the 20th century, some Black people chose to 鈥減ass鈥� as white in a bid to circumvent racism and segregation.
For Greene鈥檚 pragmatic mother, Genevieve Fleet Greener, passing as white became the best option to enhance her children鈥檚 prospects in an increasingly segregated, racist America 鈥� even though it meant breaking ties with her close-knit family in Washington. Worse, it meant estrangement from her husband, Richard Greener 鈥� a professor of law and prominent advocate for civil rights who was the first Black graduate of Harvard University. Although often mistaken for a white man, he believed that all Black people should unite to fight against prejudice rather than 鈥渢rying to cross the color line.鈥�
To explain her olive complexion, 鈥渄a Costa鈥� was added to Greene鈥檚 altered surname to represent an invented Portuguese grandmother. She was still in her 20s when J. Pierpont Morgan 鈥� imposing business magnate, passionate bibliophile, and known philanderer 鈥� hired her away from Princeton University鈥檚 rare books collection in 1905 to curate his new library in Manhattan.聽
Told from Greene鈥檚 perspective, 鈥淭he Personal Librarian鈥� deftly conveys her deep knowledge of medieval illuminated manuscripts, her skill in handling her mercurial, overbearing boss, and her prowess in navigating the rarefied circles of art dealers and Gilded Age society. But the book never loses sight of the cost incurred by her family secret through all these professional triumphs.聽
Stories about racial passing have long been fixtures of American literature, including Nella Larsen鈥檚 novel 鈥淧assing鈥� (1929), Philip Roth鈥檚 鈥淭he Human Stain鈥� (2000), and Brit Bennett鈥檚 鈥淭he Vanishing Half鈥� (2020). These books, along with Bliss Broyard鈥檚 memoir, 鈥淥ne Drop鈥� (2007) 鈥� which grew from her discovery that her father, literary critic Anatole Broyard, had a hidden multiracial history 鈥� underscore the high stakes for people who dare to cross the color line. More importantly, they highlight both the outrage and absurdity of racial prejudice.
The authors of 鈥淭he Personal Librarian鈥� make it clear that many Black people like Greene and her family owe their light skin to聽the sexual violence inflicted on enslaved Black women by white men.聽Yet聽later in life,聽and despite past and present聽trauma, their聽tenacious, accomplished heroine assesses her remarkable career, declaring, 鈥淚 presented proof of the heights that colored folks could fly if untethered from racist bindings.鈥澛�
In this telling, even Greene鈥檚 father, the author of a prescient essay titled 鈥淭he White Problem,鈥� comes to respect the 鈥渓ife of meaning鈥� his daughter has forged for herself. But he also holds out hope for a better future when he says, 鈥淥ne day, Belle, we will be able to reach back through the decades and claim you as one of our own.鈥�
And here we are, in 2021, a year after George Floyd鈥檚 murder and the ensuing outrage and Black Lives Matter demonstrations it provoked, reading about the true heritage of J.P. Morgan鈥檚 personal librarian.
The backstory behind 鈥淭he Personal Librarian鈥� adds another intriguing dimension. Historical novelist Benedict, whose previous subjects include Lady Clementine Churchill and Hedy Lamarr, learned about Greene many years ago from a docent in the Morgan Library. But she felt she needed a collaborator, particularly for the Black perspective. She chose Victoria Christopher Murray, author of a fiction series, 鈥淭he Seven Deadly Sins,鈥� as well as 鈥淪tand Your Ground,鈥� a sensitive contemporary novel about the shooting of a Black teenager by a white police officer. In an author鈥檚 note, Murray writes that her own light-skinned grandmother occasionally passed as white.
Their teamwork has yielded an engrossing, well-researched read, which the authors assure us is anchored in 鈥渢he available facts.鈥� Liberties have, of course, been taken, and it鈥檚 mostly in these imagined scenes of high drama 鈥� such as the physical tension between Greene and her possessive, much older boss 鈥� that the writing often feels overheated.
The prose turns positively purple when it comes to Greene鈥檚 affair with art historian Bernard Berenson, a Lithuanian-born Jew who passed himself off as a Boston Brahmin. (He does not come across well.) Air and voices grow 鈥渢hick with emotion鈥� to connote sexual desire. Other, smaller stumbling blocks include anachronistic expressions like 鈥渋t came with the territory,鈥� 鈥淚 feel seen,鈥� and 鈥渃ompartmentalizing my sadness.鈥�
That said, Greene is an inspiring, compelling heroine. Although she has been written about before 鈥� most notably in Heidi Ardizzone鈥檚 biography, 鈥淎n Illuminated Life: Belle Da Costa Greene鈥檚 Journey from Prejudice to Privilege鈥� (2007) 鈥� one hopes that 鈥淭he Personal Librarian鈥� will introduce her story to a wider audience.聽
In addition to the Monitor, Heller McAlpin reviews books regularly for NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times.
