Amazon Quest Publishing Category:  Women Publisher: Quest Publishing ISBN-10:  0973412909 Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 364 Copyright: November 2003 Tired of the challenges of your responsibilities? Wish you could run away and discover who you could be without the roles you play? Questing Marilyn is a memoir of a physical and psychological journey through England and Ireland by a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist. Come along as Marilyn visits Stonehenge, Glastonbury, Tintagel, Bath, Kilkenny, Dublin and more. Exploring new places can stimulate one’s inner world, leading to a deeper understanding of the Self. Marilyn weaves life skills and relationship issues into her story. Readers feel they are on the journey. Learn ways to discover your true self as you imagine you are along on the Quest. "Marilyn has written a book that opens the world of real personal growth to people who know that they feel different when they return from a journey and yet they have no words to describe what this feeling means. Questing Marilyn: In Search of My Holy Grail is a very personal (sometimes uncomfortably TOO personal) account of her journey. I have always believed that the privilege of travelling into another culture is a magical way to expand our own beliefs and horizons. As a fellow traveller, I am envious of some of the places and events that she has experienced. The way Marilyn has created her book - the short and focused chapters allow her readers to stop along the road with her to reflect and look at our world through her eyes." Review by: Susan Birkenshaw, Travelling Maverick, Toronto, Ontario Canada  "This is not a self-help book. It is the documentation of a personal journey starting in Canada, touring the British Isles and Ireland, and ending up back in Canada. I would recommend this book to anyone who perhaps can’t take a journey far from home. The self-discovery that Marilyn experiences is inspiring and so very detailed that it seems the reader is experiencing the journey with her. She writes in such a way that I forgot that I was reading. It felt more like I was having a dialogue with Marilyn herself. I felt that her personality really came through in her writing; she is the type of person I would love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with just to hear her describe things. I was very impressed with this book, and I’m very glad I got the opportunity to review it because I don’t know if I would have picked it up on my own. Marilyn has opened me up to whole new genera and for that I am grateful. This is a medium sized book, about 350 pages; it goes quickly, and I didn’t want to put it down." Review by: Joslyn Sherry, 12/01/04 Joslyn Sherry was the first place winner of the 2003 Fuller Fiction Awards and the third place winner of the Savage Poetry Awards at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. She reviews for http://www.womenwriters.net/index.htm     Excerpt Gradually, over the years I have had a pattern of building responsibilities then letting them go, rebuilding in a different direction then letting some of that go. I have refocused, redirected and each time of change came through recognition that my stress level was too high. I wasn’t having fun anymore. Nothing new and challenging was happening. I would realise I would have to let go of the amount of responsibility I carried to make a space for the next discovery. Sometimes, I unloaded some of the tasks onto my children, paid helpers and my bewildered husband. He couldn't understand why I yearned for more, or was it a yearning for change. It is as if I can never sit still.

Questing Marilyn: In Search of My Holy Grail, Personal Growth Through Travel
“Questing Marilyn” is a wonderfully written memoir which all mothers and wives can relate to. It is amazing at how well Marilyn strikes the common chord of the female psyche.

Marilyn does a wonderful job of keeping you turn the pages as she ventures to discover her personal Holy Grail.

So often, the modern woman suffers from self-neglect. When fulfilling our duties as wives and mothers, we soon forget about taking time for ourselves. It is considered selfish and after reading Marilyn’s book, you will learn it is okay, if not necessary, to take the epic journey to find your own self.

We may not all be able to take a trip to Arthurian England, but there are plenty of places around the world where a woman can get away from her responsibilities and learn to fight the “ghosts” of oppression and self-doubt. It was revealing to read how Marilyn struggled, like most of us do, with expectations; expectations that are often not met and frequently disappoint. The book offers uncanny revelations to common experiences and emotions.

I found it touching in Marilyn’s discovery of fulfilling her own personal needs; it could also be very lonely. The process of finding your inner self can be an isolated place. But as Marilyn demonstrates in her book, it is a place that every one should attempt to visit.

After reading “Questing” I felt as if I knew Marilyn; like she was a next door neighbor. It was an enjoyable personal read I would suggest to anyone searching for that something “amiss” in their lives.

-Jessica Samons Kutz, freelance writer, author, teacher, wife and mother living in Florida, USA



Questing Marilyn: In Search of My Holy Grail, Personal Growth Through Travel
Questing Marilyn is a multidimensional book about the author's travel experience to Britain and Ireland. The book begins as the stressed out author realizes that despite her overachiever attempts to have the perfect life (a loving family, a successful counseling career, and a sturdy religious foundation) that something is missing causing her to feel disconnected and ill content. In an attempt to reconnect and find herself, the author joins a group of colleagues and acquaintances on a tour of Britain and Ireland's sacred sites.



On this tour, the author is scheduled to visit sites such as Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, Glastonbury Tor, Glastonbury Abbey, Avebury, Tintigel, Bath, Kilkenny Castle, and New Grange. Furthermore, as part of this organized expedition, group tours, hikes, and self-development rituals are to be undertaken at many of these locations.



This book relays detailed information on the mythological, historical, and spiritual significance of each stop of the tour while providing unique insight into the accommodations, dining, shopping, and sightseeing opportunities are available near these sites. As much of the author's tour is specially organized, this information contains a good deal of insight not commonly found in most tour guides of Britain and Ireland.



Another important aspect of this book is that the author candidly discusses the pros and cons of group tours by detailing her experiences during this vacation. The reader can then use this information to decide if he or she would be more suited to directed group travel or more flexible individualized travel.



The most important message of this book, however, is the introduction of travel as a tool towards self-exploration and self-acceptance. Often, due to the busyness and chaos of daily life, individuals don't have the luxury or time to truly understand who they are and what they want from life. However, during a vacation, normal routines and responsibilities can be temporarily forgotten. Thus, vacation time is the perfect time to reflect on these very personalized aspects of one's life, how he or she feels about that life, and what they need to do to make his or herself happy. Moreover, this analysis need not take place in Britain or Ireland. In fact, where the reader's quest starts and ends is completely unique to that individual.



Questing Marilyn: In Search of My Holy Grail, Personal Growth Through Travel is a great book for both those individuals interested in visiting the sacred sites of the United Kingdom and those individuals searching for self-exploration and self-acceptance. This book will make an excellent gift to yourself, to your best friend, to your sister, to your daughter, or to your mother.


Author: Tami Brady M.A.

Questing Marilyn: In Search of My Holy Grail, Personal Growth Through Travel
After years of taking care of others, registered marriage and family therapist Marilyn Barnicke Belleghem found that she had somehow forgotten to take care of herself. Suddenly, a busy career, an active family and a full personal life could no longer distract her from the difficult realization that something was missing or, even worse, wrong.



Seeking a temporary respite from her everyday responsibilities, she embarked on a journey to England and Ireland in search of the legend and meaning of the Holy Grail, only to discover something greater. In “Questing Marilyn: In Search of My Holy Grail,” Belleghem guides the reader through the complex physical and emotional journey that prompted her rediscovery of herself and her raison d’être.



Pulling no punches – especially when evaluating herself – Belleghem’s account is an insightful and honest look at the struggles all women face at a certain point in life. In particular, her experience is an excellent example of the largely overlooked potential of achieving personal growth through travel.



Perhaps most gratifying to realistic readers, “Questing Marilyn,” does not attempt to offer a so-called solution to all of life’s challenges, nor does it foster the misconception that any path to self-discovery is either easy or instantaneous. Rather, by sharing her personal growth experience and augmenting it with her professional insight, Belleghem inspires readers to go in search of their own “holy grail.”



Tori Van Orden Martínez