I am delighted to get to write this review on International Women’s Day. It’s an amazing story about a woman, written by two other women and it’s SO FREAKIN’ GOOD. Go get this book! (Seriously. Go get it. I’m going to sell you on wanting to read it during the rest of my review, I promise, so you might as well “add to cart” now).
This book is another great selection of the Schaumburg Library book club so SHOUT OUT to the public library for getting this tasty literary delight in my hands. So. Who is Belle de Costa Green? Well, Benedict first learned about Belle de Costa Green from a docent working at the Morgan Library (as she was a frequent visitor to said library). JP Morgan’s library was founded and managed by not only a woman but unbeknownst to him, a black woman passing as white in high society. Born Belle Marion Greener she was the daughter of a prominent civil rights activist (and the first Black graduate of Harvard) but as a young adult, she lived with her mother and siblings as they all navigated the world living with this secret. I mean. WHOA. The story is almost too fantastic to be true, and yet it is. I was gripped by the writing and eager to finish, if only so I could do my own research and figure out how much was true, and how many liberties were taken…
And the great thing is, that’s Marie Benedict’s whole thing. She writes books about forgotten women in history so that we can know their stories. HERE. FOR IT. Typically she writes solo, but for this book, Benedict brought in Victoria Christopher Murray because Benedict decided that as a white woman, she wasn’t the best person to tell this story, so she asked Murray, a black author, to join her on the journey and together they wrote this book. The appreciation of authentic representation and respect for diverse stories! Swoon.
Their author notes in the end are basically each of them fangirling each other; it’s clear how much respect they have for each other, and how a real bond of friendship formed as they completed the novel. So then on top of this being a book about a woman written by women, this is also the story of two women, supporting each other in their passions and with friendship. I’m so excited, I’m about to do a full Kermit waving arms around my house. And in fact, if you follow my podcast Instagram account @cheerbrarian you can see my Itsy Bitsy Reel Book Review where my exuberance is even more evident.
In conclusion, GO GET THIS BOOK. While you’re out there, you can probably go ahead and get some of Benedict’s other books, like the one about Hedy Lamarr, or the one about Mileva Marić, the first wife of Albert Einstein.