A Massive Thank You to the Author, the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book prior to its release date.

I adored this book. Based on a true story, which I didn’t realise till the end, so made it even more enjoyable. The daughter of a black activist, she presents herself as a white person. She achieves great success. Born at the turn of the century, we learn her story through to the end. Aside from the black/white element to the book, there is a huge amount about setting up libraries in the 20th century which I found fascinating.

3 stars

i would want to finish but the story is too long and i feel like it didn't really have the attraction on why i should stay read it till the end. i also thought of the details is so in deep that i lost interest because this can be a biography rather than a novel. i think other reader would appreciate it better.

This incredible novel is the real-life story of Belle da Costa Greene, bibliophile and director of J.P. Morgan’s library in the first half of the twentieth century. Rising to become the highest paid women in the US at the time, Belle was a true pioneer in her field and her wit, intelligence, and industriousness sparkle from every page of this meticulously researched book.

What makes the story even more remarkable, however, is that Belle was born Belle Greener, daughter of African American parents at a time of extreme prejudice. With most of the family having light-skin and fair hair they decided to “pass” as white, a decision which came with a huge amount of risk and which wasn’t revealed until decades after Belle’s death.

Belle was very well respected in her field, and her relationships with other iconic figures in art history and curatorship of the time are revealed in beautiful detail throughout the book. The story is so well written and engaging that I thought there must have been a fair amount of artistic license at play, so was delighted to discover that everything in the book is based on documented events.

Belle’s story is such an important one, and I am so delighted to have learned about her. I can’t heap enough praise on this glorious book and would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

I utterly adored this book. It’s an engaging and thought provoking read that’s simultaneously fascinating. The story follows Belle as she passes as white at a time when doing so was putting herself in great danger, however her character remains true and authentic. A tale of love, compassion, friendship, race, and the lengths people will go in order to survive. At times heartbreaking, the story is beautifully written and you get so lost in the story, it’s incredible to think this really happened to Belle. It’s one of those historical fiction novels that has you wanting to discover more once you’ve put it down. .

I found that this novel was powerful and angry at the atrocities committed by racists. It was incredibly moving, to know that a woman had got the courage to conceal her origins, and go for the privileges which were only accorded to whites in her time. She was risking a lot, in order to get those privileges, but she thought it worthwhile, not to be relegated to a status which was inferior. She accepted the world as it was, and not how it ought to be. Highly recommended and it enlightened me to the situation in America at the time.