I loved this book so much.  A quirky group of folks play out a post-humous inheritance game set up by an eccentric billionaire to give his fortune away to a worthy person, with so many fun twists.  Despite the potentially dark content, with death and ghosts at the center of the plot, I found it to be light and refreshing.  The character development was fun, their interactions entertaining, and the overall pace held my interest and when I couldn't read, I was still thinking about it in the back of my mind.

This book was a little bit of mystery, a little bit of romance, a little bit of friendship story, and was set primarily in a bookstore.  Despite all of this, I just didn't like it.  While the group of woman who make up the book group at the center of the story turn into detectives, I just did not find any of them believable characters. Supposedly they each have this heavy secret that allegedly explains why they are a quirky misfit in the community, but most of these backstories just did not feel real. For one, the response or lack thereof from the legal system was farfetched and unlikely to have occurred the way it was portrayed.  But more than that, I didn't find the shame and secrecy around these tragedies to feel genuine. Even the processes and law relating to the murder they start investigating left a lot to be desired.  I always find that just such a distraction.

​Not recommended. 

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In recent years, a number of these fictionalized stories based on real historical figures have come out and I have to say that I am becoming a fan of this genre of storytelling.  I initially struggled with the concept of stealing the bones of someone's public life to then fill in the blanks to make a story that isn't necessarily accurate.  I find it particularly aggravating when this is done in a way that gives them an inner thought process that is too modern and obviously inconsistent with how they would have conceptualized the world at that that time, often in an attempt to make the person more politically correct or modern in their thinking than they probably were. That said, a few of these books have found their way into my heart and this is one of them.  

This fictionalized account of Belle da Costa Greene's life as the personal secretary and librarian for J.P. Morgan was fascinating.  Belle grows up in a Black family, but her lighter skinned mother decides to move the children north and helped Belle pass as white.  Belle's vast knowledge of art and literature ultimately lands her a job for Morgan in which she is his trusted companion in developing his pet library project.  She travels the world and becomes a powerful figure in the book world.  I loved following her story and I particularly loved that it was truly a professional relationship in which they were close colleagues, but never lovers. Given the time period, the difference in their power and age, and the amount of time they spent together over a project both were passionate about, this is a ray of light in this respect.  Their relationship, primarily imagined based on the little information available about her, is refreshing.  The book is well written, fun to read, and overall just a solid narrative.

​Recommend.

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This book glorifies the sexual abuse and dysfunctional, power-imbalanced relationship between a high school boy and a 24 year old college grad students, a mentee of the high schooler's father, who lives with him and his parents for a summer.  The relationship continues beyond that in unhealthy and exploitative ways that the younger experiences as love and acceptance, but is in fact controlling and creepy.  Just one example is the book title, which represents the idea that if you call a lover by your own name, this reflects them as an extension of own self.  The relationship is kept secret and starts with classic grooming.  While the book takes place in Italy in the 1980's, where the age of legal consent is 14, I nevertheless found this book problematic and disturbing, particularly because so many people consider it a romance novel, in much the same way I read Lolita. Additionally problematic is that the author publicly identifies as straight and says he has never had a sexual relationship with a man, making the story even more offensive, but also making it clear that the relationship dynamics are not "explained away" because they are couched in a gay relationship.

Do not recommend.

I really don't want you to buy the book, but it you are going to, then you might as well click here to purchase it and support My 50 Bookish Friends blog project.

This is just an excellent book on so many levels.  The  layered unfolding of this nuanced family history is so well written and plotted.  Even as the story progresses and new history is introduced, everything holds together.  The character development and, in particular, the relationships in this book have the kind of complexity that makes them feel like they could be real.  There is nothing trite and nothing glossed over here.  The pain of abandonment, the grief of loss, and the shame of mistakes made run deep through the story.  Over and over again, I was unwilling to stop reading and, indeed, read the book a second time, which is very rare for me.  Highly recommend this mesmerizing read.

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