Just the barest outline of this book was enough to make me want to read it: Belle Greene was the first director of the Morgan Library, beginning her employment just after the turn of the century, and quickly became one of the most powerful people in the rare book/art world. But then there's this twist: she was passing. As white.

As I started reading, it got even better. Her father was the first African American graduate of Harvard and was pretty prominent in politics. But her mother made the decision to separate and eventually to move from the upper middle class of black society into middle class white society.

Belle herself was quite the character--she was a trailblazer, who was constantly trying to learn more about her chosen field. She had a lengthy affair with Bernard Berenson (art critic) who also happened to be a good friend of Edith Wharton. There was a lot of name dropping.

But I can only give it three stars because some of it felt repetitive. I wanted more about the scholarship at the Library, the daily running of it, how she made such an impact on such a male-dominated field. But I did get to know every detail abour her affairs. And though Ardizzone did a pretty good job of explaining the intricacies of passing, I felt like there could have been a bit more grace with that. Editing this down a bit would have made a much tighter story, with a far greater impact. However, I must acknowledge that some of my issues are caused by gaps in the historical record (Belle burned all of her letters before her death)

Recommended for anyone interested in this time period, racial identity, fancy museum people or glamorous librarians.