Muse, part 4, The Vaucluse

[Betty]

This section of the novel adds a dimension to Solange's character. First, she was raised at Clairefontaine Abbey, learning scribal arts, taking part in the practical duties of the self-contained community. Then, she uses that skill in Avignon, while becoming Petrarch's amour/scribe and Clement's consort. All the while, she is subject to visions and dreams, becoming valuable to poet, pope, and public and living luxuriously. Now, her emotions and premeditations in midlife cast her from innocence and desire to culpability and preparation. Great ending.