Long Island Books: 'From Away'

"From Away"

Lona Rubenstein

Arete Books, $14.95

With more writers per capita than just about any other place in the world, it's a wonder that East Hampton hasn't spawned more novels set in its backyard. Perhaps most writers who spend any time here realize that no novel can ever really compete with the richness of celebrity Zoning Board of Appeals battles in the local press.

They might also be wary of the colloquial factor, something even the best attempts at East End novels have failed to avoid entirely. Inevitably an author succumbs to the temptation of landmarks and local lore. The result is a book that reads like the collision of an East Hampton Historical Society grant application and "Valley of the Dolls."

There have been some notable triers over the years. The decade-old "Ocean Vu, Jog to the Beach" by the late Clem Woods was an earnest attempt at capturing the standoff between the East End and the summer "grouper" menace. James Brady took the plunge more recently with "Further Lane."

Not The First

Those two titles alone are enough to deflate the claim on the back of Lona Rubenstein's self-published "From Away" that, "For the first time, we have a novel that accurately portrays the real Hamptons social scene - the wannabes, the haves and have-nots, the pretenders, toilers, hustlers, winners and losers." It may be the first time for her, but that's as far as it goes.

A one-time East End real estate broker and, most recently, political consultant for the failed East Hampton Village Mayoral bid by Jerry Della Femina, Ms. Rubenstein is qualified to write a bit about each of the groups she tries to portray.

From her high-flying days as broker on the sale of Broadview, the now-burned Bell Estate centerpiece in Amagansett, to a change of fortune and difficulties with a son who inherited the family fondness for gambling, she has never been a bystander.

Girlish Philosopher

"From Away" begins with Joe and Sally Singer as the outsiders arriving in town with their three kids for the weekend. He drives a taxi. They get thrown out of the house not because they're from away, but because kids weren't allowed in the rental they borrowed. Sally vows to return and triumph . . . more over her personal demons than Bubbies, as far as I can tell.

Although she initially portrays the Singer family as though they may as well be Cambodian Hmong refugees seeing Minneapolis for the first time, in no time Joe's having an affair with another woman "from away." Next they're headed toward some moderately diverting family, tax-map, and gambling intrigue. Who's from away and who isn't begins to blur as the characters' awkward passions overtake them.

The only character who really develops is Sally, but the focus never widens enough to give us more than her girlish-philosopher viewpoint. You sympathize with her need to keep bailing out her errant son, but it's difficult to stay very interested in either of them. Her denial leads to her demise. You expect nothing less.

When it comes to the final walk-through, Ms. Rubenstein's experience doesn't turn out to be enough inspiration to help "From Away" live up to its jacket promise or top any Z.B.A. battles. Ms. Rubenstein writes capably, but instead of the broad turf her novel claims to cover it isn't much more than a lona a clef.

Readers familiar with the East End and what was clearly the inspiration for Sally's downfall will find much of this book, well, familiar. It even includes a thinly reworked story I wrote as a reporter for The Star - called the Easthamptoner here - chronicling the Chinese menu of litigation David Rubenstein's real estate dealings attracted during and after his association with his mother's firm.

Lots Left Out

What I learned covering that story - only a portion of which space or journalistic propriety allowed reporting - puts me in the company of readers who know that the novel leaves out some of the best stuff. Perhaps the author has wisely reserved some of her material for another effort?

Ironically, the upshot of "From Away" and its inspiration is that, whether it's a poker game or flipping a real estate contract, just about everybody is blind to everything but the prize. It doesn't matter so much if you're "from away" or a member of the Lost Tribe of Bonac.

Eric Kuhn, former news editor of The Star, works for Bozell Worldwide, a public relations firm in Chicago.

\