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I love historical fiction, and this book is a prime example to explain why. It is not just details of the Gilded Age, nor the biography of an extraordinary woman, or an introduction to the giant power of JP Morgan and the establishment of his library as one of the most important museums in the world of precious manuscripts and art, nor even the main thread of the story which is that tenuous line we have invented between races and class where black is relegated behind the scenes, never to enjoy the privileges this country pretends are "for all", and white declares the rules for the rich to be successful.

It is carefully researched, and aside from a luxuriant overdose of name droppings involved in the art world, the upper crust society of New York, the personal story of Belle and slow reveal about her father, the reasons for her mother's insistence of an alleged Portuguese heritage, the story of race and the pressure of playing high stakes is gripping. It is important to note the dual authorship of the book and the excellent touch of Victoria Christopher Murray to add the layer of post-civil war history of racism and how the war did not end it. I fell in love with Belle, became her second Mama, worrying about her as she played her amazing cards in a game she had to teach herself. The love story unfolding in the second part of the book is indeed heart-breaking and adds yet another dimension to this extraordinary woman.

There is a mirror effect of the book to examine yourself, perhaps as well the "luxury of making mistakes" and what they might they be, or the fun of flirtation vs. real emotion . The bottom line of being human is our struggle to know who we really are, and how that matches what we seem to be.
Shakespeare appears towards the end with the well-known lines: "a fool thinks himself to be wise and a wise man knows himself to be a fool." Indeed.