Page 11 - Buzz Magazine - Issue 4 Fall 2022 | University of Rochester

Good Books

When asked to recommend a great The Personal Librarian is about Belle da Costa Greene
book to alumni, Diane Boni ’84 “ who had worked at the Princeton University Library
responded with The Personal Librarian
and was hired by J.P. Morgan in the early 1900s to
by Marie Benedict and Victoria
catalogue his great collection of manuscripts. The
Christopher Murray. The Alumni Book
Club recently featured this historical main character has a secret that she must hide at all
novel, and Boni facilitated an online costs. She was actually born as Belle Marion Greener,
discussion about it. a Black woman who hides her racial identity in order
to thrive in a world that otherwise would not have
accepted her.

The book is compelling, and it prompted me to
read Heidi Ardizzone’s An Illuminated Life: Belle da

Costa Greene’s Journey from Prejudice to Privilege, a
non-fiction account of the same story. I found that
while some of the conversations between the main
characters were certainly imagined in the novel, they
do seem to be grounded in existing correspondence.
The real Belle actually burned most of these

both books—they prompt important conversations
about racism, equity, and opportunity.

correspondences to preserve her secret. I recommend “
—DIANE BONI ’84

LOOKING FOR MORE
GOOD BOOKS? Boni was an English major at the University who
spent 13 years as the director of English language
arts (ELA), social studies, and libraries at the
JOIN THE UNIVERSITY’S Greece Central School District, in a suburb
VIRTUAL ALUMNI of Rochester, N.Y. She is a member of the
BOOK CLUB University’s Lifelong Learning Advisory
uofr.us/bookclub Council, as well as Warner School’s National
Council and its CUES (Center for Urban
Education Success) Advisory Council. Boni is
PERUSE OUR ALUMNI also a docent at the Memorial Art Gallery and an
BOOKSHELF active participant in the Alumni Book Club.
uofr.us/bookshelf
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