9 h 47 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 47 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In old New York, love promises a future—but family, custom, and duty all have a claim on the heart.
Amelia E. Barr’s The Belle of Bowling Green brings romance to the New York of long ago. Betty Gordon, admired for her beauty and grace, faces a world shaped by family expectations and codes of honor. Love offers possibility, but choosing her own path means questioning the life others expect her to lead.
Bowling Green, the small park at the foot of Broadway, anchors this story in lower Manhattan. Against that setting, Barr explores loyalty, courage, and character through the tensions of romance. Betty’s search for self-discovery gives those larger questions a personal edge: what does she owe her community, and what does she owe herself?
What you’ll discover
- A heart facing expectations Follow Betty as the promise of love meets the demands of family and custom.
- The pull of old New York Step into a city setting where romance gives the past a personal shape.
- Loyalty under pressure Explore the strain between private wishes and the duties that shape a life.
- The courage to choose Consider what it takes for a young woman to question her expected path.
- A gentle romantic manner Settle into formal storytelling that makes room for feeling, character, and reflection.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you love romance with a strong sense of place, historical fiction about early America, family rivalries, and the warm details of old New York homes, food and music.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A city rallies around the Bowling Green
- A father's dislike has no good reason
- Love grows through letters and naval victories
- A charming stranger arrives from Haiti
- Jealousy makes a small cloud at Christmas
- A doomed lawyer and a curse spoken in court
- A slander, a lost temper, and a rose torn apart
- Pride, tongues and trust shape every household
- A war, a city, and a Dutch heritage
- How the story is told, with song and gentle humor
Who’s who
- Sapphira BloommaertThe judge's daughter, called Sappha, a gentle beauty of eighteen who loves Leonard and wants to please her parents.
- Leonard MurrayA rich, warm, impulsive young volunteer captain who loves Sapphira and longs to have their engagement acknowledged.
- Judge Gerardus BloommaertA dignified Dutch New Yorker who loves his family but cannot explain his dislike of Leonard.
- Carlita BloommaertThe judge's French-born wife, who wisely keeps the peace and supports her daughter's love.
- Madame Jonaca BloommaertThe judge's mother, proud of her Dutch roots, who guides her family with wit, faith and a strong will.
- Annette de VriesSapphira's pretty, vain cousin, who wants admirers, new dresses and a rich husband, and speaks before she thinks.
- Achille St. AngeA dark, refined newcomer from Haiti and Louisiana, a skilled fencer who wants a family to belong to.
Formats and delivery
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- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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The Belle of Bowling Green
by Amelia E. Barr · 1904
In 1812 New York goes to war, and eighteen-year-old Sapphira loses her heart to a young captain.
Medium level5–10 hours to readfrançais
Excellent
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In short
What does a city sound like on the day it learns it is at war? In The Belle of Bowling Green, it sounds like flags run up at every window, drums in the street, and a girl of eighteen racing upstairs to fetch an old banner that has seen battle.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A city rallies around the Bowling Green
The story opens on the Bowling Green as news of war with England reaches New York. Barr treats the place almost as a character, a spot where cannons face the sea but a green hearthstone welcomes visitors.
Judge Gerardus Bloommaert has built a tall red brick house there. His daughter Sapphira is its chief charm, with dark eyes, nut-brown hair and a queenly walk. Her grandmother, Madame Jonaca Bloommaert, scolds her for smiling while the city is in trouble. Sapphira answers gently that it is not yet time to cry.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1904
- Language
- français
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Barr, Amelia E. The Belle of Bowling Green. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-belle-of-bowling-green.
Barr, A. E. (2026). The belle of Bowling Green. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-belle-of-bowling-green (Original work published 1904)
Barr, Amelia E. The Belle of Bowling Green. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-belle-of-bowling-green.
@book{barr2026belle,
author = {Barr, Amelia E.},
title = {The Belle of Bowling Green},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-belle-of-bowling-green},
note = {First published 1904}
}
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What is The Belle of Bowling Green about?
It is a romance set in New York during the War of 1812. Sapphira Bloommaert falls in love with Leonard Murray, but her father, a cousin's gossip and a slander against Leonard test their love, while the city fights a war.
Who is Sapphira Bloommaert in the novel?
She is the eighteen-year-old daughter of Judge Gerardus Bloommaert, a famous beauty of the Bowling Green, known to her family as Sappha. She is gentle and loyal, with a strong will that appears under pressure.
Is The Belle of Bowling Green a true story?
It is a novel, but it uses real events of the War of 1812, real places such as the Bowling Green and the Battery, and real figures like Decatur, Mayor Clinton and Aaron Burr. Amelia Barr published it in the early twentieth century.
The author
Amelia E. Barr
1831–1919 · English novelist
Amelia E. Barr was a British-born American novelist and one of the most prolific popular storytellers of her era, with dozens of novels including Remember the Alamo. The Belle of Bowling Green is a romance set in old New York, a world she returned to often.
More by Amelia E. Barr
Voir tous ses livresMore like this
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