A review by plathandpoetry
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a very fast, intriguing read about a Black woman, Belle Marion Greener, passing as a white woman and working for a white tycoon under the name Belle de Costa Greene. Belle is lovable, and three-dimensional in her debate between living life as she wants socially with a career that she wants, and the desire to be honest about her roots. Though, Belle was a real person, she destroyed all evidence of her thoughts and feelings towards her internal debate, leaving the authors to pull from personal experiences, interviews with other people, fiction, etc. I felt as though they created a well-rounder character whose feelings felt authentic. 
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