Lily White, Susan Isaacs. (Hardcover 0060176075) Book Reviews, Used Book available for Swap

Search - Lily White

Lily White
Author: Susan Isaacs

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--manl... more »y, 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 50-something 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 20 years: run and leave behind a broke and brokenhearted victim? Lee starts to wonder if her client is not only not guilty but also 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 DA's Office to move back to Long Island with him; that's what marriage is, a series of compromises made in the name of love. Isn't it?

Lily White masterfully interweaves the depths of deception surrounding the twisted Torkelson case with the stunning betrayals that devastate Lee's own life. With the characteristic intelligence and delicious, razor-sharp wit displayed in her previous bestsellers, such as After All These Years and Compromising Positions, Susan Isaacs has crafted an extraordinary novel about social mobility -- about what is phony and what is real. Lily White is the seamlessly executed story of the crimes committed in the name of the good life and the victims of these violations: Those like Bobette, who do not survive, those whose spirits are crushed, and the few, like Lee, who fight back--and find something better.

ISBN-13: 9780060176075
ISBN-10: 0060176075
Publication Date: 7/1996
Pages: 459
Rating:

Currently 3.5/5 Stars.

3.5 stars, based on 26 ratings

Publisher: Harpercollins
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Teri L. (teril) reviewed Lily White on 11/21/2005 + 183 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Good Story held my interest until the end.

Share/Like this Review?

Bridget W. reviewed Lily White on 12/31/2005 + 27 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Witty legal thriller, with a great twist in the end.

Share/Like this Review?

Judy D. (littlebear) reviewed Lily White on 2/15/2006 + 7 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

This was a slow read for me because I didn't like the author's style. But many people read her works and love them!

Share/Like this Review?

Kellie S. (acountkel) reviewed Lily White on 7/9/2006 + 94 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I read this book about 4 years ago and really liked it. It has a lot of twists and turns. Couldn't put it down.

Share/Like this Review?

Tish O. (tish) - reviewed Lily White on 2/28/2007 + 384 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

one of this authors best books!she intertwines true love,con artists and treachery. all good things in this authors books!!!

Share/Like this Review?

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

Diane S. (Swanee) reviewed Lily White on 10/2/2007 + 9 more book reviews

I was never a virgin.
Okay: In the technical sense, of course I was. But even in my dewy days, I never gazed at the world wide-eyed with wonder.

She's tough, but is she tough enough?? Read and find out!

Share/Like this Review?

Cynthia M. (stampmaven) reviewed Lily White on 10/15/2005 + 16 more book reviews

This is a funny look at a family that survives at any cost.

Share/Like this Review?

Louise B. (louiseb) - , reviewed Lily White on 9/10/2009 + 13 more book reviews

fun, easy read. Not the best of Susan Isaacs (I give my vote to Shining Through) but entertaining.

Share/Like this Review?

Shirley E. (luvantiques) - reviewed Lily White on 12/1/2007 + 187 more book reviews

This is a very good book!! Longer than most, over 600 pages but well worth the read. It's actually two stories in one, the first about Lee [Lily] White as she is growing up and how those years and her family shape the person she becomes. And that's the second story as it weaves back and forth, Lee as an adult, a successful lawyer, the main case she is working on and how it plays into her life, her marriage, her friendships.... You won't finish this in one sitting, but you will finish it because you have to find out how it all ties together, and who really killed Bobette!!

Share/Like this Review?

Read All Book Reviews of "Lily White"

Genres:

Search - Lily White

Top Member Book Reviews

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

Loading...