---
product_id: 443239699
title: "The Personal Librarian: A GMA Book Club Pick"
price: "887954₫"
currency: VND
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.vn/products/443239699-the-personal-librarian-a-gma-book-club-pick
store_origin: VN
region: Vietnam
---

# GMA Book Club Pick Engaging narrative 300+ pages The Personal Librarian: A GMA Book Club Pick

**Price:** 887954₫
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 📖 Get lost in a story that’s more than just a book!

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Personal Librarian: A GMA Book Club Pick
- **How much does it cost?** 887954₫ with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vn](https://www.desertcart.vn/products/443239699-the-personal-librarian-a-gma-book-club-pick)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Rich Themes:** Explore profound themes that resonate with today's societal issues.
- • **Page-Turning Plot:** Experience a gripping story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
- • **Book Club Approved:** Join the conversation with fellow readers and elevate your discussions.
- • **Perfect for Millennials:** A modern tale that speaks to the aspirations and challenges of the millennial generation.
- • **Unforgettable Characters:** Dive into a world of relatable and complex personalities.

## Overview

The Personal Librarian is a captivating novel selected by GMA Book Club, featuring over 300 pages of rich storytelling and unforgettable characters that resonate with the millennial experience.

## Description

desertcart.com: The Personal Librarian: A GMA Book Club Pick: 9780593101544: Benedict, Marie, Murray, Victoria Christopher: Books

Review: A Captivating & Superb Read! - The Personal Librarian is one of my most favorite books of 2025! I had no idea what was awaiting me in the pages of this book about Belle da Costa Greene and her amazing life. The Personal Librarian is a rich, multi-layered treat filled with history, love, tension, family relationships and so much more. Not only did I read it, but I listened to it as well. And the voice actress, Robin Miles, who voiced Belle was simply stunning. I highly, highly recommend The Personal Librarian. I hope you love it as much as I did! 🙂
Review: A Good Historical Read! - I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Robin Miles (also narrated “Just as I Am” by Cicely Tyson), and enjoyed it. This was the March selection for my book club (AAABDG). An historical account of Belle da Costa Greene. Genevieve, Belles' mother, having to create a Portuguese grandmother to disguise their Black heritage was a covert operation for the entire fate of the family. Teaching was the most common and revered profession for blacks during the time period, Belle’s mother was pro advocate for her becoming a teacher while her father envisioned Belle as a historian or arts scholar. It was her father that laid the groundwork for her career as personal librarian to J.P. Morgan. Belle taught herself Latin, and became very knowledgeable in an exclusively male world of art and rare book dealer. The chapters are short which makes for faster reading. I had moments of elation, sadness, joy, awe and admiration. I asked myself why was Belle a personal librarian and not titled a curator or dealer of antiquities, paintings, manuscripts and artifacts, and did J.P. Morgan feel about Blacks the same way he felt about Jews? The story takes place in 1905-1948 and follows Belle from city to city and country to country. Belle’s father sides with the views of Booker T. Washington, regarding his strategies with business owners and politicians and Willie DuBoise, in his views on his plans for the advancement of NAACP, in which mirrored his stance. The comparison between Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois. This was also mentioned in “A Pair of Wings” by Carole Hopson, in which blacks were siding with the philosophy of one or the other to determine their path of equality. It is a true and honest fact that many blacks owe their light skin to the sexual violence inflicted on enslaved black women by their white masters, and chose to pass as white as the best option to enhance their lifestyle for better housing, better jobs and pay, and equality. It meant estrangement from their families. I was not particularly pleased with Belle's romance with Berenson (a Lithuanian born Jew) whom harbored secrets of his own, as they were involved in a long term relationship. I was conflicted in whether he was truly in love with Belle or was he using her intellect and insights to gain advantages to his own art dealings. This novel was written during a pandemic, and racial injustice with the murder of George Floyd in 2021 in which the Civil Rights Act in 1883 that ushered in Jim Crow segregation and gave white supremacy and racial discrimination legal cover, the ramifications of which are felt to this day in 2022. There are still few opportunities open to blacks or anyone classified as nonwhite. As of 2022 we are striving to vote the first African American female Judge in the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court, but with much opposition. Overall, I learned a lot about the are world, travel to other countries during this era, especially for blacks, the culture during the Guilded Age Era, many historical places and people. I will value this read as a learning experience and highly recommend this book to bibliophiles, art historians, and history buffs. I look forward to doing more research into Belle da Costa Greene's life by reading some of the recommended material: "Am Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege" by Heidi Ardizzone, and "The White Problem" by Belle's father, Richard Greener.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,642 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2 in Biographical Historical Fiction #4 in Biographical & Autofiction #9 in Black & African American Women's Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 49,516 Reviews |

## Images

![The Personal Librarian: A GMA Book Club Pick - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81RXfoKnM9L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Captivating & Superb Read!
*by B***L on December 23, 2025*

The Personal Librarian is one of my most favorite books of 2025! I had no idea what was awaiting me in the pages of this book about Belle da Costa Greene and her amazing life. The Personal Librarian is a rich, multi-layered treat filled with history, love, tension, family relationships and so much more. Not only did I read it, but I listened to it as well. And the voice actress, Robin Miles, who voiced Belle was simply stunning. I highly, highly recommend The Personal Librarian. I hope you love it as much as I did! 🙂

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Good Historical Read!
*by D***T on April 4, 2022*

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Robin Miles (also narrated “Just as I Am” by Cicely Tyson), and enjoyed it. This was the March selection for my book club (AAABDG). An historical account of Belle da Costa Greene. Genevieve, Belles' mother, having to create a Portuguese grandmother to disguise their Black heritage was a covert operation for the entire fate of the family. Teaching was the most common and revered profession for blacks during the time period, Belle’s mother was pro advocate for her becoming a teacher while her father envisioned Belle as a historian or arts scholar. It was her father that laid the groundwork for her career as personal librarian to J.P. Morgan. Belle taught herself Latin, and became very knowledgeable in an exclusively male world of art and rare book dealer. The chapters are short which makes for faster reading. I had moments of elation, sadness, joy, awe and admiration. I asked myself why was Belle a personal librarian and not titled a curator or dealer of antiquities, paintings, manuscripts and artifacts, and did J.P. Morgan feel about Blacks the same way he felt about Jews? The story takes place in 1905-1948 and follows Belle from city to city and country to country. Belle’s father sides with the views of Booker T. Washington, regarding his strategies with business owners and politicians and Willie DuBoise, in his views on his plans for the advancement of NAACP, in which mirrored his stance. The comparison between Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois. This was also mentioned in “A Pair of Wings” by Carole Hopson, in which blacks were siding with the philosophy of one or the other to determine their path of equality. It is a true and honest fact that many blacks owe their light skin to the sexual violence inflicted on enslaved black women by their white masters, and chose to pass as white as the best option to enhance their lifestyle for better housing, better jobs and pay, and equality. It meant estrangement from their families. I was not particularly pleased with Belle's romance with Berenson (a Lithuanian born Jew) whom harbored secrets of his own, as they were involved in a long term relationship. I was conflicted in whether he was truly in love with Belle or was he using her intellect and insights to gain advantages to his own art dealings. This novel was written during a pandemic, and racial injustice with the murder of George Floyd in 2021 in which the Civil Rights Act in 1883 that ushered in Jim Crow segregation and gave white supremacy and racial discrimination legal cover, the ramifications of which are felt to this day in 2022. There are still few opportunities open to blacks or anyone classified as nonwhite. As of 2022 we are striving to vote the first African American female Judge in the highest court of the land, the Supreme Court, but with much opposition. Overall, I learned a lot about the are world, travel to other countries during this era, especially for blacks, the culture during the Guilded Age Era, many historical places and people. I will value this read as a learning experience and highly recommend this book to bibliophiles, art historians, and history buffs. I look forward to doing more research into Belle da Costa Greene's life by reading some of the recommended material: "Am Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege" by Heidi Ardizzone, and "The White Problem" by Belle's father, Richard Greener.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An unexpected level of historical accuracy for a novel.
*by C***K on December 30, 2025*

The Personal Librarian is a fictional account of the life of Belle da Costa Greene, who managed the acquisition and collection of books and art for J. P. Morgan - his personal librarian, as it were, continuing with his son until her death in 1950, of cancer. During her life, she was most notable for aggressive style in the acquisition of books and art for Morgan, at a time when doing this as a woman was considered highly unusual. But there was another aspect of her life that only came out 49 years later, when a photographer noted that she had spent her entire life passing for white, while in fact, her father was the first black Harvard graduate, and a leader in the civil rights movement, which had regressed profoundly after the civil war, thanks to The Great Compromise of 1877, which led to Jim Crow. Marie Benedict, upon realizing the implications of this, enlisted a co author for the book, Victoria Christopher Murray, to try and concoct a fictional account of Belle da Costa Greene life, with some level of plausibility. I would say they succeeded admirably, even though of course we will never really know what her thoughts were at the time. I will say, much to my surprise, all the basic plot lines are tied nicely to historical facts. In fact, as historical fiction goes, Greene's thoughts notwithstanding, this book seems to have a historical accuracy that I have not experienced in many decades. What an amazing individual.

## Frequently Bought Together

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*Product available on Desertcart Vietnam*
*Store origin: VN*
*Last updated: 2026-02-20*