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Flora's Suitcase Goes on a Trip

© Robert Powers

Dalia Rabinovich's first novel, Flora's Suitcase, has won the contest sponsored by publisher HarperCollins in conjunction with publication of Olivia Goldsmith's novel, The Bestseller. Goldsmith, author of The First Wives Club, calls Rabinovich's book "wonderful."

This reader, however, was not as taken with the novel, not so much because of its writing, which is skillful and assured. Rather the story seems all too familiar and verges on the romantic side just a bit too much. The novel traces the story of Flora Grossenberg, a young Jewish woman in Cincinnati. When she marries a Russian Jew, the newlyweds emigrate to 1930's Medellin, Colombia. Arriving in the jungle, the couple moves into a single home that houses her groom David's family.

That alone might be enough to put the marriage onto rocky shores, but things worsen quickly when it turns out that his three older sisters quickly take a disliking to Flora in every aspect. The strange combination of a Yiddish-speaking family living in the middle of a land filled with superstitious peasants who are devout Roman Catholics makes for drama.

The plot thickens when Flora insists that her husband move them into a home of their own, an idea that infuriates the three meddling sisters. When they make the move, their new home is inhabited by a strange woman, seemingly forgotten, who claims to be 103 years old and a daughter of the legendary Simon Bolivar.

Author Rabinovich shows a deft command of language and she knows her Colombia, since she was born there. She holds a master's degree in fiction and has taught English composition. There's no question that she has the talent, but Flora's Suitcase just misses the mark.

You can find the HarperCollins web site at www.harpercollins.com.

L. RON HUBBARD GETS A COLLABORATOR

New books by L. Ron Hubbard have continued to pour from the presses of Bridge Publications in spite of the fact that Hubbard, founder of Scientology, died a number of years ago. It would appear that Hubbard's cupboard has just about run out of dusty manuscripts.

The latest novel attributed to Hubbard was based on an original story by him, expanded into novel length by Kevin J. Anderson. Ai! Pedrito! - When Intelligence Goes Wrong is an acceptable adventure tale with an intriguing if ancient twist, the one that everyone has an exact double somewhere on Earth. The plot catches fire when a Navy lieutenant, Tom Smith, discovers that his double is a notorious spy and South American revolutionary.

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