The Personal Librarian tells the story of Belle de Costa Greene, a black woman who became the personal librarian to the famed banker J. P. Morgan by passing as white. While the book is historical fiction, Belle de Costa Greene was a real person who managed to achieve a status in society that was noteworthy, …
Chapters 1 – 2 (November 28, 1905 – December 7, 1905) In November 1905, Belle da Costa Greene, 26, is working as a librarian at Princeton University. Belle is a Black American who is passing as white. Belle’s real name is Belle Marion Greener. At Princeton, Woodrow Wilson is the university president. The student body …
Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica wasn’t on my radar when it was first released, but it’s been getting some solid reviews, so I thought I’d check it out. I’ve been meaning to read something by her anyway. As I started reading, I was very intrigued by the premise of this mystery-thriller. Eleven years ago, …
Prologue Part I Part II Prologue 11 Years Before The prologue is set 11 years before. It introduces a dissatisfied housewife (who we later learn is Shelby Tebow) with a baby who knows her husband is cheating on her. She leaves the house at night to hook up with someone named “Sam”, or at least …
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich was recently awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, landing it firmly on my to-read list. It’s a story seeped in Erdrich’s own family history, based on her grandfather’s experiences resisting the dispossession of Native American lands from the U.S. government. In addition to the response to the Termination …
