Marlene Wagman-Geller

“Sorrow lies like a heartbeat behind everything I have written.”

–P. L. Travers

The Story Bank (opened in 2019)

 Maryborough, Queensland, Australia

If the east wind blows you into the town of Maryborough, visit The Story Bank to partake of heaping spoonfuls of sugar. The museum was the birthplace of P. L. Travers, the Australian-born author of British nanny, Mary Poppins.

“Give up the harsh title of Master for the more tender and endearing one of Friend.”

–Abigail Adams    

            If one listens intensely enough, the walls of Peace field do talk. They whisper of Founding Mother, Abigail Adams, who admonished the periwigs to share power with the petticoats. To discover an intriguing slice of America, explore the Old House at Peace field.

   In the 2003 episode of The Simple Life, Paris Hilton, claiming she had never heard of Walmart, asked if it was a place where “they sold wall stuff.” Although Paris does not frequent Walmart, millions do, oblivious to the fact that Samuel Walton, (the last three letters of his surname and the word ‘mart-’abbreviation for market), served as the namesake of the megastore.

“There is more done with pens than swords.” –Harriet Beecher Stowe

            Extraordinary novels have had a global impact: John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and George Orwell’s 1984. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin altered history as it helped ignite the American Civil War. To learn about the female great emancipator, follow the road to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.

  If the Grimm brothers had championed morganatic marriages, Cinderella would still be sweeping cinders, Rapunzel would remain trapped in her tower, Snow White would yet slumber. Similarly, if the English monarchy had harkened to the matrimonial rule of yesteryear, a throne would not beckon for a coal miner’s “daughter.”

“No lapse of time, no nearness to the grave, makes any difference.”

–Eliza Hamilton on her refusal to forgive President James Monroe

            At the conclusion of the megahit musical, Hamilton, Eliza Hamilton lets out a gasp, followed by the chorus breaking into the haunting lyrics, “Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” A way to discover Eliza’s story is to visit the Hamilton Grange house-museum.

“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.”

–Virginia Woolf

Monk’s House (opened 1981)

East Sussex, England

Leonard Wolf observed, “What cuts the deepest channels in our lives are the different houses in which we live.” His words apply to Monk’s House that served as a lighthouse for him and his writer-wife, Virginia.  

Chapter # Graves are Always Tidy

“One can give up many things for love, but one should not give up oneself.” -Edith Wharton

The Mount (opened 2002 )

Lennox, Massachusetts

         The writer who punctured the stereotype of the starving artist, Edith Wharton comes across as a cosseted, stiff-necked dowager, with stays firmly fastened. However, if passion had not beat under the primness, she could never have penned her passionate epics. To partake of her gilded world, grab your lorgnette and head to The Mount.

The Karen Blixen Museum (opened in 1986)

Nairobi, Kenya

“I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills…” are the opening words of Karen Blixen’s memoir of her seventeen-year sojourn in Nairobi.  Visiting her former home, now the Karen Blixen Museum, is to return to a yesterday where the “The Dark Continent,” then the domain of British East Africa, was the paradise-playground of rich Europeans.

“Never relight a dead cigarette or an old passion.”

–Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield House & Garden (opened 1988)

Wellington, New Zealand

The possessors of sphinxlike personalities prove challenging subjects for their biographers who must strip off various masks. Katherine Mansfield, in her journal, paraphrased Polonius’ words from Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Hamlet, “True to oneself Which self?” To best understand the New Zealand enigma, journey to the landscape of her childhood: the Katherine Mansfield House & Garden.

“Afflictions are the steps to heaven.”

–Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton   

The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (opened 1965)

Emmitsburg, Maryland

A Negro spiritual, popularized by Louis Armstrong, begins with the lyrics, “Oh, when the saints go marching in, oh, when the saints go marching in…” To learn about the woman who traversed the road from socialite to saint, head to Emmitsburg, Maryland, the site of the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

“The people need a role model…especially in the dark of night.”

–Imelda Marcos

Santo Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum (opened 1979)

Tacloban, Philippines

If a Grimm’s brother princess possessed the ability to write, her message would read, “A new pair of shoes can change your life-Cinderella.” A former First Lady of the Philippines would have wholeheartedly agreed. To partake of a dwelling of fairy tale proportions, enter the estate of the Santo Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum.

“Surely for everything you love, you have to pay some price.”

–Agatha Christie

Greenway House (opened 2009)

Devon, England

As a rule of thumb, people are not salivating to visit an isolated manor whose hostess’ specialty is poison, where random bodies turn up. While the latter scenario is the case in Agatha Christie’s novels, the author’s retreat, Greenway House, is a pastoral estate to which fans flock.

“The more spontaneous the pleasure, the more happy the result.” – Beatrix Potter 

Hill Top (opened 1946)

Near Sawrey, Lake District, England

            For over a century, children have delighted in the adventures of Peter Rabbit, the bunny who dressed in blue coat with brass buttons. To enter the whimsical world of his creator, Beatrix Potter, hop on over to the Lake District’s Hill Top.

“My home is humble and unattractive to strangers, but to me it contains what I shall find nowhere else in the world-the affection which brothers and. Sisters feel for each other.”

–Charlotte Brontë   

Brontë Parsonage Museum (opened 1928)

Yorkshire, England

            Historic houses reverberate with secrets, and one is how an isolated parsonage on a windswept moor produced the passion that birthed two immortal love stories. To enter the confessional of the original weird sisters-Emily Jane, Charlotte, and Anne-one can journey to the Brontë Parsonage Museum, a British literary shrine second only to Stratford-on-Avon.

“Every damn thing you do in this life, you have to pay for.” – Édith Piaf

The Musée Édith Piaf (opened 1977)

Paris, France

            The blind poet, John Milton, illustrated insight into the human condition with his statement, “The anguish of the singer makes the sweetness of the strain.” A chanteuse who proved his words was an alchemist whose songs dwelled on the permanence of love, the impermanence of lovers. To step into her world- whose dragon at the gate is a break-the-mold docent- enter the Musée Édith Piaf.