Belle da Costa Greene was a fascinating person, as documented in this fictional account of her life. As a librarian, I have to say she sounds more like a curator, but maybe the authors just didn't provide info about how she organized JP Morgan's library when she began her work there. Alas! That would have been fascinating, at least to cataloging and classification nerds such as myself. Still, the story of her rise from a rare books librarian at Princeton at the turn of the 20th century, when women weren't allowed to attend, to one of the world's preeminent collectors and art and literature historians isn't a bad tale.

Her early friend and mentor, Junius, JP's nephew met at Princeton.

While Junius admires Odysseus, I identify always with Aeneas, the Trojan refugee who desperately tries to fulfill his destiny in a world that holds no place for him. Aeneas was driven by duty, sacrificing for the good of others.

I found this sentiment illuminating as to Belle's dual struggle as a woman and a white-passing Black person. The book doesn't say how or when Belle's racial identity was discovered. The internet tells me her birth certificate was found, with a C on it, for "colored."