First Line Friday 22.1: The Personal Librarian

How could I not join the first FLF of the year? Today I am linking up with Reading Is My Superpower and featuring the first new book I started reading this year.

As a side note, as I mentioned in Wednesday’s post, I am instituting a new numbering process for repeated posts throughout the year. This includes regularly scheduled linkups, memes, and other posts that I write more than once per year. The title of each post will include 22.[iteration of the post for this year]. So since this is the first FLF I am participating in for 2022, it is 22.1. The next time I participate, it will be 22.2. (Yes, I know not everyone cares about the intricacies of my blog numbering system. But a few people probably will, and I think talking about organization is a side effect of earning a library degree.)

First Line Friday is a weekly linkup hosted at Reading Is My Superpower. To participate, share the first line of a book of your choice, add the link to the linkup on the host’s page, and check out what others are reading and sharing!     

My First Line:

The Old North bell tolls the hour, and I realize that I’ll be late.

About the Book

Title: The Personal Librarian

Author: Marie Benedict

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths to which she must go—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives. 

What are you reading this week?

Until the next chapter,

Jana