Paradisi Chronicles: Sarah Kuttner (Saya Smith)
Daily Diary, Thursday, October 19, 2023, Day 1144:
This is the fifth post that provides some background, in this case about Sarah Kuttner, one of the main characters in The Stars are Red Tonight, which I co-wrote with my daughter and am currently posting, chapter by chapter in this newsletter. Once I have put all ten chapters up, we will then republish this novella as an ebook. If you wish to read the first post about the Paradisi Chronicles, click HERE, or if you wish to start reading the novella, click HERE. Comments, likes, and shares are very welcome.
Sarah Kuttner was born in 2070, and this means that in 2092, during the events of the Stars are Red Tonight, she is twenty-two. At her birth, her father was 63, and her mother was 35, and seven years later her baby brother, who she adored, was born. Growing up in the walled city of Chicago, as a member of one of the wealthiest families in the city, had insulated Sarah from most of what was going on in the world. However, with both parents working long hours, she was lonely, and her major passion once her brother was born was helping the family servants look after her him.
As a result, when he died at the age of five, her world collapsed. She was only twelve, and this tragedy, followed so soon after by her father’s death, left her deeply scarred. To make matters worse, her mother immediately sent her away to boarding school, which she hated. When she graduated, she returned home at age sixteen and started attending the exclusive DePaul university with a double major in business and computer science.
This is the beginning of a time of extreme conflict with her mother. Her mother wanted her to build relationships with other Founder Family members, including her Kuttner aunts and uncles. Caroline knew that these relationships will be important once they all arrive in New Eden, but didn’t feel she can tell Sarah about the Project.
Sarah, partly as a way to upset her mother, tracked down Caroline’s own family, discovering an aunt and some cousins who run a chain of local vegan restaurants that emphasize sustainable agriculture. Caroline helped them get started in their business but never talked about them or made any efforts to introduce them to her husband or children.
Sarah hasn’t had much experience with female friends, finding the girls of her elite class superficial. She was pretty cynical about boys, getting double messages from her mother that it was important to be attractive but that she should be aware that boys were probably after her money. After her father’s death, she didn’t see much of his side of the family. She did like her mother’s sister and her cousins, but they were all too busy with helping run the restaurant to spend much time with her. As a result, she didn’t have anyone close to confide in, making the problems with her mother even harder to bear.
The conflicts escalated to the point where Sarah felt she needed to get away, start her own life. When she was eighteen, she left town and moved to Seattle, taking the name Saya Smith. Unbeknownst to her, her mother had hired Frank to find her and watch out for her.
Physical characteristics: Thick, wayward brown curls, big blue eyes, medium height, and because she runs for exercise, she is relatively fit. She has a tattoo of a small cute mouse on her ankle, because this was her brother’s favorite stuffed animal.
Personal characteristics: Very independent, and she hates the idea of being beholden to anyone, or conforming to other people’s expectations. She is analytical, organized, likes to be in control, competitive, perfectionist. In fact, these are characteristics that she has in common with her mother, although she wouldn’t admit this.
The death of her brother and then her father, followed by a sense of rejection from her mother when she was sent off to boarding school, has caused her to wall off her emotions. She is proud of being independent, thinks she is in control of her life, but hasn’t ever faced any problems where her family and wealth hasn’t protected her from the consequences of her actions.