LILY WHITE

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)