The Journey Takes an Alternate Trail

Here at Compass Rose Queen, I set out to tell the stories of women, both historical and fictional, who have embarked on an incredible journey of some sort. But then I started graduate school…

There are some amazing female historical figures that I would love to write about. However, many of them already have amazing websites and articles written about them, and I would be adding nothing to them. The time it takes to research their lives to do them justice is also more than I have right now with grad school. So I think it is time to take this blog into slightly different direction.

Instead of alternating between historical figures and literary heroines, I will focus on fiction. Specifically, recently written or currently being written stories. I am lucky enough to be friends with several talented published and unpublished authors who have amazing female leads, and most of them take some kind of journey (all heroic in some way in the end!).

Occasionally, I may write about a real life heroine whose journey story is not well known. But for the most part, I will focus on books (thus giving me an excuse to read for fun in between grad school texts!)

Just because I can’t help it, here is a brief bio of an historical figure that I encourage you all to learn more about. I’ll add another one soon, probably added onto a post about a literary heroine.

I’d like to introduce Maria von Trapp. Yes, of “Sound of Music” fame. But I’m not talking about the Disney-fied version. The real woman was incredible. Did you know that later on in life, she served the people in Papua New Guinea? And the movie actually dumbed down the true story. The real Captain von Trapp was actually engaged to a princess, not a baroness! Maria loved her Lord with all her heart, and loved her family. The Trapp family settled in America and blessed it with many amazing things. I was fortunate enough to see her granddaughter, Elizabeth von Trapp, in concert here in Salem, Oregon.  It was so exciting to meet a descendant of such an amazing woman. Elizabeth was a talented woman, as well, especially with the acoustic guitar. So the real Maria von Trapp has touched people around the world, in one way or another. I encourage you all to read Maria’s first book, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, on which the musical was (very loosely!) based. Then be sure to read her later memoirs, Maria: The True Story of the Beloved Heroine of the Sound of Music. My favorite part is where she recalls her early attempts to learn English. In attempting to translate “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” she ended up saying “The ghost is willing, but the meat is soft.” Brilliant.

References:

Von Trapp, Maria. Maria: The True Story of the Beloved Heroine of The Sound of Music. 1972. Avon Books: New York, New York.

Von Trapp, Maria. The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. 1949. Philadelphia: Lippincott.