Messenger Part I — Michael Polowetzky

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 priestC. 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?