Dr. Carolyn W. Naue

Carolyn Westbury-Naue 

Carolyn Alise Westbury-Naue has built her life around art, research, and discipline. A renowned curator and scholar of Japanese manga and visual culture, she recently relocated with her family to a home just outside Savannah, Georgia.

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It should have been another carefully chosen chapter in an already accomplished life.

Instead, the house gives her a mystery she cannot neatly explain.

And Carolyn does not like unanswered questions.

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Quick Facts

Occupation: Art curator, scholar, and creative consultant
Specialty: Japanese manga and visual storytelling
Education: Master’s and Doctorate in Manga Studies
Personality: Organized, cautious, analytical, disciplined, deeply nerdy
Languages: English and Japanese
Closest to: Carla, Chris, and Amalia
Emotional tell: Carolyn may struggle to say what she feels. Ask her to draw it instead.

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Before Savannah

Carolyn’s relationship with art began almost as soon as she could hold a paintbrush. By age three, she was already drawing constantly, and that early talent quickly became serious study. Her dedication eventually earned her a full scholarship to the Kyoto Academy of Fine Arts — American Division in Kyoto, Japan. She later completed both her master’s and doctorate at the Huxley School of Manga Mastery outside New York in just three years.

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Carolyn’s academic interests became the foundation of her career. She is a respected authority on manga and Japanese visual culture, frequently delivers talks in Japanese, and has helped spearhead several successful manga-inspired comics and films, including:

• CyberRebels

• Eternal Shadows

• Chronicles from the Forgotten Era

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What She’s Known For

One of Carolyn’s proudest accomplishments is the Kokoro no Bijutsukan (心の美術館) — Museum of the Heart’s Art, which she helped conceive and co-owns.

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The museum reflects much of what Carolyn believes about art: that stories, emotions, and pieces of people can survive long after their creators are gone.Her work and contributions to the arts eventually earned her a key to the city of Sakura Springs, Georgia.

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How to Read Carolyn

Carolyn likes structure, schedules, research, plans and evidence. She is careful by nature and rarely takes unnecessary risks. When something doesn’t make sense, her instinct is to study it until it does.

That becomes increasingly difficult after moving to Savannah. Carolyn can also be emotionally reserved. Saying what she feels does not always come easily to her, but her artwork usually tells the truth. If you really want to know how Carolyn feels about someone, ask her to draw them.

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People in Her Orbit

• Carla, Carolyn’s twin sister. Their personalities may differ, but when the mysteries surrounding the house begin to deepen, they find themselves following the same trail.

• Chris, Carolyn’s partner. His frequent travel suits Carolyn’s independent nature and gives her the solitude she often needs to work and think.

• Amalia, Carolyn’s best friend and one of the few people firmly inside her small inner circle.

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Things you should know

• Carolyn genuinely enjoys crowds, but she keeps relatively few people close.

• She can comfortably deliver a lecture to a room full of strangers, yet finds deeply personal conversations much harder.

• She seeks out quiet spaces when she needs to create.

• She prefers evidence over instinct, preparation over spontaneity, and explanation over mystery.Which makes the strange history of her new home especially difficult to ignore. Because the more Carolyn investigates, the more the evidence begins pointing toward things she would rather not believe.

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Why the House Gets Under Her Skin

Carolyn has spent her career studying the ways people leave pieces of themselves behind through art, stories. objects and places. So when the history of her new home begins revealing itself in fragments, walking away is almost impossible. The question is no longer whether the house has a story. It is who is trying to tell it—and why.

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The Diary of Ynna Mae

Follow Carolyn, Carla, and the Naue family as they uncover the history buried inside their new home.

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Keep Exploring

Meet Carla →
Meet Chris →
Explore the Naue House →
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