Susan Isaac's seventh novel is the first story of Lee White, a criminal lawyer on Long Island ensnared with a con man accused of murder. Lee is a privileged, Jewish baby-boomer, whose parents changed their name to White before her birth and then named her Lily. Her family's rise to unhappiness is directly related to their rise to affluence, and Lily tries repeatedly to liberate herself to prove herself as a wife, a daughter, a parent, and a lawyer. Though she struggles with self-doubt, Lily's strength comes from her ability to acknowledge vulnerability and overcome it. As she unravels the truth, she faces some difficult family truths and solidifies her belief in herself.


From Publishers Weekly
Marjorie Morningstar meets Nancy Drew in Isaacs's latest, which succeeds as both a coming-of-age story and a legal thriller. Her wit honed by familiarity with two milieus she knows well, Isaacs creates a character who moves between the conspicuous consumption of upwardly mobile and dying-to-be-assimilated Jews on Long Island and the criminal justice system (Isaacs's husband is a well-known attorney), where a successful trial lawyer sometimes must defend unsavory clients. These spheres are joined in Lily White, nee Lily Rose Weiss, who narrates the sections of the novel that deal with her defense of oily con man Norman Torkelson and her suspicions that his gorgeous girlfriend actually committed the crime for which he is charged, the murder of a "mark" whom he had fleeced out of thousands of dollars by promising to marry her. Running in tandem are chapters that describe Lily's self-absorbed parents' rise in the world and the ludicrous ways in which they try to fit into WASP society. It's especially ironic that when Lily weds super-WASP Jasper "Jazz" Foster, whom she has adored from childhood, the marriage succumbs to pressures that arise as much from class differences as they do from character. Irony succeeds irony when Jazz declares himself in love with Lily's sister, Robin, Lily's complete antithesis. If it sometimes seems that these parallel narratives should have been two different books, most readers will bond with Lily and gladly switch back and forth between the stages of her life. For on one level, Isaacs has created a pitch-perfect social satire; on another, while the suspense is never spine tingling, she has written a psychological thriller whose portraits of an amoral conman and his mate, of the dehumanizing effects of the prison system and of the stages of a criminal investigation are rendered with snappy authenticity. Literary Guild and Doubleday $250,000 main selections; ad/promo; simultaneous audio; author tour; rights: William Morris Agency. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
YA-Lee White, a lawyer, claims in her first sentence, "I was never a virgin." She avoids succumbing to the superficial values of her wealthy Jewish family and struggles to be accepted in their WASP neighborhood. Excelling in school, Lee marries well and constructs a successful career as a prosecutor. She eventually accepts the case of Norman Torkelson, a con man charged with strangling his latest female mark. As Lee narrates her story, she unravels twin mysteries-one, the personal betrayals of her family, who were certainly not the Cleavers; the other, whether Norman or his ravishingly beautiful girlfriend committed the murder. What Lee successfully proves is that straightforward, honest people are susceptible to being conned on all levels of their lives. At the end, she is betrayed by all and is not particularly wiser. YAs should find this novel intriguing and thought-provoking.Linda Diane Townsend, formerly of Fairfax County Public Schools, VACopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Lily White, better know as Lee, is a criminal lawyer from Long Island. Her current client is a con man who charms lonely women out of their assets. Normally nonviolent, he is accused of murdering his most recent mark. Complications arise when his beautiful young accomplice confesses to the murder. Lee's client, who has protested his innocence, suddenly insists on taking the rap, and Lee finds herself in the middle of a mystery?or perhaps another con?as she sorts out the truth. Isaacs, well known for popular novels like Compromising Positions (LJ 3/1/78), lays out Lee's life through a series of flashbacks. The result is a sometimes funny, sometimes poignant exploration of love, betrayal, and, ultimately, the meaning of family. This intriguing and well-written book should be in demand.-?Barbara E. Kemp, SUNY at AlbanyCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


New York Times Book Review
"A big, fat, happy feast of a book. . . . [Isaacs's] most confident and appealing. . . . [She] is both funny and piercing, a highly satisfying combination."


Entertainment Weekly
"Isaacs delivers witty, wicked satire from beginning to end."


The New York Times Book Review, Jon Katz
... a big, fat, happy feast of a book.


Los Angeles Times
"A one-volume vacation reader."


Boston Globe
"Riveting. . . . Best of all is the character of Lee, smart and sassy . . . self-deluded at the same time. Her good-humored, self-knowing, self-mocking voice is a treat for the ear."


From Booklist
Can a tough, smart Jewish girl from a nouveau riche Long Island family find happiness with a gay black Republican? The answer is a resounding yes in the ever-witty Isaacs' latest genre-bending mystery-comedy. Told in chapters alternating between her personal life and her work, this is the story of Lily White, a funny, ambitious criminal-defense attorney. Lily becomes overinvolved in the case of her current client, Norman Torkelson, a con man who woos and then bilks desperate, lonely women. Something went terribly wrong in his last con, and the mark ended up dead. Now Torkelson is charged with murder; is he guilty, or was his gorgeous, ditsy girlfriend--prone to wearing orange lipstick and neon-colored miniskirts--overcome by jealous rage? As Lily pulls out all the stops in trying to determine what really happened, she also reveals her painful personal life--her increasing distance from her blue-blooded, ne'er-do-well husband, his startling revelation that he is in love with her sister, and her subsequent efforts to build a makeshift family with her best friend and mentor, an elegant gay black man. Aside from the many great one-liners and a gutsy, likable heroine, Isaacs offers a host of zinging observations on the notion of family, the politics of our criminal-justice system, and the importance of good eye shadow, all wrapped up in an interesting plot. Now that's entertainment. Joanne Wilkinson


From Kirkus Reviews
Isaacs achieves a personal best with this warmly spirited tale of a Long Island lawyer conned over and over by life and love. Lily ``Lee'' White, daughter of a wealthy WASPophile Jewish furrier and a beautiful, vain, neglectful mother, had always done her best to transcend her shallow background, attending NYU Law, marrying the love of her life, and serving the people in the Manhattan D.A.'s office. For a while, it seemed she had succeeded, as her attorney-husband, Jasper ``Jazz'' Taylor, the rich, Episcopalian boy next door, joined a prestigious Wall Street firm and Lee reaped her first major triumphs in the courtroom. But Jazz wasn't comfortable as a lawyer, and Lee couldn't help feeling betrayed when he moved her back to their hometown of Shorehaven and became president of her father's ritzy Manhattan fur boutique. Joining the Long Island D.A.'s homicide department, Lee did find some comfort in a friendship with Will Stewart, the super-elegant head of the department, who held her hand as Lee adjusted to the strains of motherhood, cared for Jazz's Down's-syndromeinflicted younger brother, helped her younger sister, Robin, recover from a heroin addiction, and tried to put up with a mother disappointed in Lee's mediocre sense of style. The strain proved too much when Jazz and Robin announced they were in love, wanted to marry, and intended to sue for custody of Lee's and Jazz's child. Now, while representing a con man who seduces lonely women for their money and may have actually murdered one, Lee reviews her own foolish moves in life and takes comfort in the knowledge that her exile from an unloving family and deceitful marriage has left room for a happier, if much more offbeat, life than she ever could have imagined. As always, Isaacs's strengths lie in her feisty characters, lively pacing, and perfectly tuned comic sense. (Literary Guild main selection; $250,000 ad/promo; author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Midwest Book Review
A criminal defense lawyer involves herself with a con man charged with murder: what seems like a routine case becomes a real puzzle as Lee wonders about his underlying motives, then becomes convinced that the murder case isn't one of automatic guilt. Her search for the truth coincides with a review of her life in Isaacs' moving story.



"A well-written, moving story that will keep the reader engrossed all the way."


Atlanta Journal
"Shiny fun, jampacked full of story."


St. Paul Pioneer Press
"Touching, funny, and fast-paced."


Cincinnati Post
"Stunning. . . . [Isaacs] has created an ingenious novel that breaks out of the mystery genre. In fact, it sets the genre in which, typically, the killer is brought to justice on its ear."


Baltimore Sun
"The ingredients for another bestseller."


Miami Herald
"A well-written, moving story that will keep the reader engrossed all the way."


Newsday
"Her richest book yet."


People
"Murder, sex, and humor make for a wickedly entertaining combination."


Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Lily White is a winner . . . with wit, insight, and enough twists and turns to keep the pages turning."


Book Description
"I Was Never a Virgin" Meet Lily White, Long Island criminal defense lawyer. Smart, savvy, and down-to-earth, Lee can spot a phony the way her haughty mother can spot an Armani. Enter handsome career con man Norman Torkelson, charged with strangling his latest mark after bilking her out of her life's savings. As the astonishing twists and reverses of the Torkleson case are revealed, so too is the riveting story behind Lee's life. The critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of After All These Years, Magic Hour, Shining Through, Almost Paradise, Close Relations,and Compromising Conditions, Susan Isaacs has crafted her most dazzling novel of manners and morality. Lily White is a brilliantly crafted story of con artists and true lovers, of treachery and devotion--and of one brave lawyer's triumphant fight for justice.


About the Author
Susan Isaacs is the author of eight novels including Red, White & Blue, Lily White, After All These Years, Compromising Positions, and Shining Through and one non-fiction title Brave Dames And Wimpettes: What Women Are Really Doing on Page and Screen. She lives on Long Island with her husband.

ANNOTATION

What happens when the dreams you dare to dream really do come true? Only deception, betrayal, and life lessons like you wouldn't believe! Susan Isaacs, the bestselling author of After All These Years and Compromising Positions, has crafted her most dazzling novel of manners and morality, Long Island-style. Lily White is a seamless story of con artists and true lovers, of treachery and devotion--and of one brave lawyer's triumphant fight for injustice.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Susan Isaac's most ambitious and dazzling novel to date, we are introduced to Lee White, a criminal defense lawyer practicing on Long Island. Into her life drifts Norman Torkelson, a career con man charged with strangling to death his latest mark. At first, as Lee explains to us, the case seems routine, the evidence overwhelming. Norman - manly, magnetic, and morally reprehensible - is a man who crisscrosses America looking for patsies for his cruel marriage scam: Love 'em, liquidate their assets, leave 'em. Clearly, he murdered Bobette Frisch, the dumpy, sour fiftysomething bar owner who had fallen madly in love with him. But just as Lee is resigning herself to the inevitable "Guilty!" verdict, she begins to have doubts. What, after all, was Norman's motive? Why not do what he had done for the last twenty years: run, and leave behind a broke and brokenhearted victim? Lee starts to wonder if her client is not merely not guilty but covering for the real killer and, in doing so, performing the first selfless act of his life. As the Torkelson case unfolds, a second narrator chimes in to tell us the story behind the story: the tale of Lee's life. Born Lily White, Lee is a smart, pretty, and privileged child coming of age on Long Island. Her parents have little time for her or her younger sister, devoted as they are to the pursuit of shallowness. Her mother, Sylvia, who looks like Lauren Bacall's twin sister with a mild eating disorder, is busy with the exhausting work of keeping up her wardrobe. Her father, Leonard Weissberg - Weiss - and finally White, is consumed by his chi-chi Manhattan fur salon, his model-bookkeeper mistress, and his obsession with the family next door, the old-money, oh-so-social Taylors. When Lee marries Jazz Taylor, the scion of these blue-bloods, her life seems blessed. Suddenly she has her mother's approval, her father's love - and a sublime husband. No matter that she has to give up her dream job in the Manhattan D.A.'s Office to move

FROM THE CRITICS

Newsday

Her richest book yet.

Entertainment Weekly

Isaacs delivers witty, wicked satire from beginning to end.

Miami Herald

A well-written, moving story that will keep the reader engrossed all the way.

Los Angeles Times

A one-volume vacation reader.

St. Paul Pioneer Press