| Sumario: | Schlomith Flaum, a kindergarten teacher in the early days of the Yishuv, traveled the world, met with celebrities, wrote, drew, lectured, and published articles and books. Unconventional in her ambitions and pursuits, she remained misunderstood and ridiculed throughout her life. Flaum's othering found intense expression in Truda Schein, a character in Dov Kimhi's 1934 novel On the Seven Seas. Focusing on the characterization of Flaum's literary double, I take my clues from the novel's human color palette and its account of Truda's use of photography to argue that the narrative's excessive ridicule of her character serves to counter what has been considered Kimhi's position on the power of the Zionist ethos inculcated into the sabra generation in the Land of Israel. Truda's wanderlust and colorful femininity leave an indelible mark on the novel's male sabra characters, challenging what is portrayed as their desire to take hold and establish roots in the Land.
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