Good evening.

It's that time again.

Time for you and me to spend some brief moments talking about books and reading.

This is Inside the Cover.

I am your host, Ted Ayres, and I hope you enjoy our time together as much as I do.

By the way, thanks to Don Meyer for leaving our copy of his book, The Saga of Lloyd and Jim, here at the Station.

I look forward to reading it.

On past shows, we have often reviewed books dealing with libraries and librarians, and bookstores and booksellers.

Tonight, we return to those topics with a book that I hope you will find of interest.

It is now time to go inside the cover.

As a precursor to our book tonight, I want to make reference to some recent travels of ours.

In July of 2023, Marcia and I took our youngest granddaughter, Allison, to New York City for a Ted's Big Apple tour.

One of our destinations was the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue.

While we have often photographed the Lions, Patience and Fortitude, we had not really gone inside.

And I'm glad we did.

It is a beautiful building and certainly worth a visit.

And I was fascinated to learn that an expansion in the 1970s and eighties added storage space under Bryant Park.

One of our most favorite places in the city to have an adult beverage, eat a meal, get an ice cream treat, relax and people watch.

It is also home to one of the nicest and cleanest public restrooms in the country.

So as I enjoy Bryant Park, it is exciting to know about all the books sitting underneath me.

With that lead in, let's go to our book of the evening, The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

Marie Benedict is a lawyer.

And Victoria Christopher Murray is an author with more than 30 novels in print.

One of the many reasons I enjoyed this book was the inclusion of commentary from the authors as to the hows and whys of writing a book, a historical novel dealing with the life and legacy of Belle de Costa Green.

The book discusses how Belle became the personal librarian to John Pierpont Morgan and how her efforts ultimately resulted in the Morgan Library and Museum at 225 Madison Avenue.

The authors also provide some questions for discussion to enhance understanding and enjoyment of the book.

Let me whet your appetite with the following.

Belle Dacosta Green was born Bel Marion Greener, the daughter of a noted African-American activist at the time, Richard Greener.

However, the family was split apart when Belle's mother decided that Belle's future depended on passing as a white woman.

An understandable but dangerous ruse at that time.

In this regard, note the following insightful quote from Richard Russo's new book, Somebodys Fool.

The book is filled with references to New York City, starting with the turn of the century.

It also tells the inner conflicts that Belle faced in “living a lie ”, while nevertheless becoming one of the most successful librarians and art experts in the world; dealing with Mr. Morgan, which was not the easiest thing to do in the world; And artists, auction houses, writers and those with suspicious minds.

I know this.

The Morgan Library will be on my itinerary for my next visit to New York City.

That's our show.

Tonight's book has been The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

While not necessarily great literature, I found the book to be a fun and enjoyable read with enough actual history to make the story more believable and more interesting.

If you like history and a good story telling, I am happy to recommend this book to you.

Goodnight and see you next time.