Saint

The heroine of this irreverent first novel is Rubia (nee Susan), a transplanted New Yorker whose marriage to Frederico has condemned her to 15 years on an isolated South American hacienda with his Spanish family. When she discovers that he's been having an affair while she's been at the hospital nursing his dying mother, she becomes enraged and begins to consider not only leaving her adopted home, but also literally doing some physical damage to Frederico's private parts on her way out. Her dying saintly mother-in-law, however, offers Rubia some alternative, potentially more provident counsel. As Frederico and his paramour strike aggressively remorseful poses, Rubia struggles to find suitable recourse for her feelings of betrayal and her desire to be able to forgive, if not forget. In a wry, distinctive voice, Bell effectively conveys the feeling of being an outsider in a close-knit foreign clan. But it is passion, described with gusto, that fuels this off-beat sexual comedy. Foreign rights: Cowan/Sindall Productions, 2029 Century Park East, Los Angeles, CA 90067. November 1