It occurs to me, dear readers, that it has been far too long since we did a Ten Ways to Explore a Book post.  I especially enjoy writing these posts because they allow me to dive back into a book that I’ve read and enjoyed and I always learn a great deal in the process.

Since the first two Ten Ways posts I’ve written focused on novels, I wanted to select a nonfiction book for this third entry.  After much thought, I selected The Peabody Sisters by Megan Marshall.  As I’ve admitted before, the three Peabody sisters, Elizabeth, Mary and Sophia, have long intrigued me.  With their rich, interesting lives, their fascinating connections to so many historical figures and their local connections, these three women have a lot to offer those of us who wish to deeply explore a book.

Elizabeth, Mary and Sophia Peabody were the daughters of Elizabeth Palmer Peabody and Nathaniel Peabody of Salem.  They had three brothers, but the male Peabodys did not leave quite the impact on history that their three sisters did.  Elizabeth Peabody was an educational pioneer and helped launch the kindergarten movement in the United States.  Although she never married, she worked closely with and helped inspire many of the famous men in the Transcendentalist movement.  Mary Peabody Mann (who is, incidentally, my favorite Peabody sister) was an amateur botanist, a teacher, a writer, and a reformer.  She eventually married the educational reformer and politician Horace Mann.  Sophia Peabody Hawthorne is perhaps the most famous of the three sisters.  Despite living much of her life in poor health, she was an accomplished artist.  She also married famed author Nathaniel Hawthorne.

A number of books have been written about the Peabody sisters, but Megan Marshall’s biography of them is one of the best.  She traces the women’s lives from childhood through adulthood, demonstrating how they influenced and were influenced by some of the other great minds of their day.  Once you’ve made it through the Marshall book, you will be intrigued enough to want to spend more time with Elizabeth, Mary and Sophia.  To help you do so, I offer these ten suggestions:

1. Explore Salem (you can wait until after Halloween!).  The Peabody sisters were born in Salem and spent a good portion of their lives there.   The Peabody Essex Museum owns several of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne’s paintings.  For more ideas on what to see in Salem, check out the North Shore Literary Trail.
2. Explore Concord.  We’re quite lucky to have so many literary destinations right in our backyard.  The Peabody sisters (especially Sophia and Mary) spent a great deal of their married lives in Concord, as did any number of the other Transcendentalists, so the town is a wonderful place to get a feel for the intellectual and spiritual roots of the movement.  Sophia Peabody is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord.
3. Keep a journal.  Mary and Sophia took a life-altering trip to Cuba before their marriages.  Sophia’s journals from that trip were shared widely by her sister Elizabeth and their mother and were eventually published.  Even if your journal never reaches a wider audience, it can have great value to you.
4. Write a book.  The Peabody sisters were quite prolific writers.  They kept journals and wrote many letters.  In addition to Sophia’s published journals, Mary Peabody Mann had a book of letters published.  She also wrote a biography of her husband, a book for children called The Flower People, which you can read on Google books for free, and a novel based on her experiences in Cuba.  Mary and Elizabeth also collaborated on more than one book concerning their theories of education.
5.  Host philosophical conversations with your friends.  When Elizabeth Peabody owned a bookshop in Boston, she hosted a series of small-group conversations led by Margaret Fuller.  Be a modern day Transcedentalist and discuss and debate religion, literature, morality and philosophy with a group of select people.
6. Paint.  Take your inspiration from Sophia and try your hand at portraits and landscapes.
7. Read the Transcendentalists.  The Peabody sisters were surrounded by the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and other prominent transcendentalists.  Reading the words of these men and women can deepen your appreciation for the sisters.
8. Read fiction.  Elizabeth was more of a nonfiction reader and often scoffed at novels (although she championed her brother-in-law, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work), but Mary was an ardent defender of fictional books long before she wrote one herself.  If you’re looking for something Peabody-sister inspired, consider the works of Louisa May Alcott, who was a contemporary of our trio.  If you’re looking to move beyond Little Women, I suggest Eight Cousins.  You could also compare what you learned in The Peabody Sisters to the fictionalization of the life of Sophia Hawthorne in The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck.  And last, but not least, you could also read one of Hawthorne’s novels.
9.  Teach something to a child.  It is impossible to discuss the Peabody sisters without acknowledging their dedication to education.  Even if making your livelihood from teaching or tutoring, as the sisters often did, is not for you, you can keep their legacy alive any time you teach something to a child.
10.  Become a reformer.  Both Mary and Elizabeth were passionate about education reform and the abolition of slavery.  Pick an issue you care deeply about and work for reform.