The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
This biographical novel was about the little-known Belle da Costa Greene, the "personal librarian" of wealthy financier J. P. Morgan and curator of his originally-private library/museum. Greene was born Belle Marion Greener in 1879 to African-American parents, but changed her name to aid in passing as white. The "da Costa" was to indicate a Portuguese heritage as an explanation for a darker complexion. Her mother and all her siblings also changed their surname to Greene, to separate themselves from their estranged husband/father, Richard Greener, a racial justice advocate, so they could all pass as white.
As I've noted in other reviews of her work, I'm not particularly fond of Marie Benedict's writing style, and this book (like the others of hers I've read) was overly long and detailed. And yet, I continue to read her books, because she chooses interesting, little-known women to write about. She did have a co-author for this one, African-American Victoria Christopher Murray, which was a plus. I also appreciate their sharing of the sources they used in the post-novel historical note.
Mayluna by Kelley McNeil
This book was an Amazon First Reads for Kindle described as "women's fiction," although it's really more a romance. The latter is not normally something I would have selected as my free book, but this was a month when the book in my favorite genre was not getting good reviews, and women's fiction is something I often like. Although I'm not really the target audience for this book (which I would describe as romance fans, and/or people who came of age in the late 1990s), I still enjoyed it.
Mayluna is the name of an English alt-rock band in 1998, and Carter Wills is its 26-year-old enigmatic lead singer and songwriter. Evie Waters, aka Cameron Leigh, is a 25-year-old music journalist and aspiring filmmaker interviewing the band at the beginning of their first USA tour. Carter and Evie hit it off and ultimately fall in love. Their romance is told mostly in flashbacks (mostly from Evie) from twenty-plus years later.
Author Kelley McNeil says on her web page for Mayluna that "...when a song popped on the radio and in the span of those four minutes, words and characters and a complete story began to flow into my mind...." I'd love to know the name of her inspiring song, but in reading this book, it immediately reminded me of the Moody Blues' song "Your Wildest Dreams" (which also runs about four minutes) and its follow-up, "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" (also about four minutes in its single/video version).
There are scenes in the videos for both songs that are reflected in McNeil's book. However, I'd be surprised if they were her inspiration, given that "Your Wildest Dreams" came out in 1986, and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" in 1988, and both songs look back to the mid-1960s Songwriter and lead singer Justin Hayward has said in a couple of interviews that he was inspired to write the songs when reminiscing about his first love.
© Amanda Pape - 2024
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