Again, while Jody worked, Phil and I visited the birthplace in Wellington of Katherine Mansfield, the great NZ short story writer who is acknowledged as the British author who had the greatest impact in the creation of the British short story. Her stories, BLISS and GARDEN PARTY, are among her best and most well known. She tragically died in 1923 at the age of 35 from consumption. She was one of the original feminists, always at odds with a conformist society and always testing the limits. She was a personal friend of D.H. Lawrence (no surprise) and was even modeled after one of the female characters in Lawrence's novel, WOMEN IN LOVE. This visit was a particular Mecca for Phil as he has been a great lover of Mansfield's stories for years. FYI, Phil and I both attended University of Maryland together in 1969-1971 and were both English Majors.
One other of Mansfield's most popular short stories is THE DOLL HOUSE which is somewhat autobiographical in nature and refers to the doll house she had as a child. The doll house was modeled after her own home. In the exhibit is an exact model of the original doll house, complete with a very elaborate interior.
I bought this tea towel for Jody as I suspect that she and Mansfield would have had a lot in common.