Portrait of the Past

Marguerite has always run from trouble, since the day she and her young husband, Benjamin, escaped from slavery. Her dreams of a life of wedded bliss in the safety of Canada dashed when Benjamin is killed, she runs to France where she becomes an accomplished portrait painter. And yet, her restless soul drives her back to post-Civil War America where she bounces from one town to another, painting miniature portraits for easy cash. When she is hired to paint a wedding portrait for a wealthy family, she finds herself emotionally ambushed, for the family's business partner and close friend is Jacob, Benjamin's father. Overcome with guilt for her part in Benjamin's death, facing Jacob's anger and hatred, all Marguerite wishes is to run away again, yet her long dormant conscience will not allow her this escape. Uncertain how to make amends, or if such a thing is possible, she does the only thing she knows - paint a portrait, a portrait of her lost past, her lost family. Herself. Benjamin. Jacob. Her father, Lucian, who was also her owner, and her sister Pamela, whom she had served as a lady's maid. As she paints and explores the past of her mixed family, she begins to understand the forces that have shaped them all and the difficult choices they were driven to make.