Join BookBrowse today and get access to free books, our twice monthly digital magazine, and more.

Victoria Christopher Murray biography

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Victoria Christopher Murray
Photo: Rochelle Scott Design and Photography

Victoria Christopher Murray

Victoria Christopher Murray Biography

Victoria Christopher Murray is the author of more than twenty novels including: Greed; Envy; Lust; The Ex FilesLady JasmineThe Deal, the Dance, and the Devil; and Stand Your Ground, which was named a Library Journal Best Book of the Year. She is also the coauthor of the novel The Personal Librarian. Winner of nine African American Literary Awards for Fiction and Author of the Year (Female), Murray is also a four-time NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Fiction. She splits her time between Los Angeles and Washington, DC.

Victoria Christopher Murray's website

This bio was last updated on 05/18/2021. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Interview

A Conversation with Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray about the extraordinary life of Bella da Costa Greene, which they bring to life in The Personal Librarian

What about Belle da Costa Greene's story made it necessary to write?

MB: In general, I am a writer on a mission—to excavate from the detritus of the past the most important women of history and bring into the light of present day their world-altering contributions and the insights from the very modern issues with which they struggled—and my ultimate goal is to change the lens through we view not only the past but the present. I first encountered the main character in The Personal Librarian when I was a lawyer in New York City, and I'd retreat to the Morgan Library as a place of refuge and sanctuary when I was frustrated with the career, which I knew wasn't my calling. While there one day, a docent mentioned The Personal Librarian to J. P. Morgan, Belle da Costa Greene, and I became fascinated with this woman who became one of the most powerful people in the art world, although there was very little information available about her at that time. When I decided to focus exclusively on historical fiction about women, Belle was always on my list of women I wanted to write about. But until I met Victoria, I didn't feel ready to delve into a book about her, because at the core of Belle's identity is her decision to pass as ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Books by this Author

Books by Victoria Christopher Murray at BookBrowse
The First Ladies jacket The Personal Librarian jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Victoria Christopher Murray but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Marie Benedict

    Marie Benedict

    Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a litigator at two of the country's premier law firms and for Fortune 500 companies. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College with a focus in ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Personal Librarian

    Try:
    The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
    by Marie Benedict

  • Brit Bennett

    Brit Bennett

    Born and raised in Southern California, Brit Bennett graduated from Stanford University and later earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan, where she won a Hopwood Award in Graduate Short Fiction as well as the... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Personal Librarian

    Try:
    The Vanishing Half
    by Brit Bennett

We recommend 4 similar authors

View all 4 Read-Alikes

Non-members can see 2 results. Become a member
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Support BookBrowse

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more


Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Dispersals
    Dispersals
    by Jessica J. Lee
    We so often think of plants as stationary creatures—they are rooted in place, so to speak&#...
  • Book Jacket: Fruit of the Dead
    Fruit of the Dead
    by Rachel Lyon
    In Rachel Lyon's Fruit of the Dead, Cory Ansel, a directionless high school graduate, has had all ...
  • Book Jacket: The Wide Wide Sea
    The Wide Wide Sea
    by Hampton Sides
    By 1775, 48-year-old Captain James Cook had completed two highly successful voyages of discovery and...
  • Book Jacket
    Flight of the Wild Swan
    by Melissa Pritchard
    Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), known variously as the "Lady with the Lamp" or the...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Only the Beautiful
by Susan Meissner
A heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter, and the terrible injustice that tears them apart.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Flower Sisters
    by Michelle Collins Anderson

    From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.

  • Book Jacket

    The Stolen Child
    by Ann Hood

    An unlikely duo ventures through France and Italy to solve the mystery of a child’s fate.

Who Said...

Life is the garment we continually alter, but which never seems to fit.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

P t T R

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.