Messenger Part I

Michael Polowetzky (author of "Courtesans) now steps back a few years to begin recounting the story of Pascale Kedar in "Messenger Part I. A brilliant artist with a mind bordering on genius, teenage Pascale grows up in an overprotected environment in the Middle East. On her first trip abroad, a revolution breaks out back home, and Pascale is stranded in Paris. In the course of events, she is befriended by several locals-- among them:

 

A.   Veronique Castellane (a former prima ballerina, her historic career on the stage sadly cut short);

B.   Veronique's brother Richard, a polymath Catholic priest

C.   Matilda Eisenberg, a leftwing professor from the University of Paris and Heidelberg in Germany with political ambitions;

D.   Sister Claire, a renegade British aristocrat belonging to a social activist order of nuns.

 

All her benefactors dearly love Pascale and fully appreciate the girl's immense artistic ability. At the same time, each sees Pascale as a vehicle to obtain their own frustrated adult ambitions.

 

Question: Can the young painter achieve both her own artistic goals and answer the hopes and dreams of her many devoted supporters?