Lily White

Rating:
Summary: I would not give it more than a 3...not up to par
Review: I didnt think it was up to par..because it didnt hold my interrst..very slow in developing

Rating:
Summary: The Con Artists and Lee White
Review: I picked this book because I thought it sounded like a murder mystery -- a female defense attorney trying to prove her client -- who is probably guilty -- innocent. I thought this book might be comparable to Ed McBain.

This book, however, was more character study than murder mystery, in my opinion. The mystery was still there -- with lots of great twists and turns -- some guessable and some not.

But the thing about Lily White, the book and the person, that made me give the novel 4 stars is that I identified with Lee (AKA Lily White). Sure, Lee is an ambitious attorney. Her family (at first I felt I knew too much about them, but this only made the end that much more heartfelt) is nothing like my own (thankfully loving family). The differences are night and day. And yet, there is something there, some part of Lee, that I would bet is in all of us. By the end of the book, I was cursing those who had wronged and conned Lee White, cheering her new beginning at the end and every struggle she had won.

As this book drew toward the end, I could not put it down! And then, when it ended, I wanted to know what was next for Lee White. I could have read another 500 pages. She had become a real person to me, someone I thought of as a friend.

And that, to me, is the mark of a good book.

Rating:
Summary: 2 interesting, 2 heartbreaking, 2 books in 1
Review: I read Isaacs' Compromising Positions a fews years back and stumbled across Lily White in the library. (incidentally, i found Compromising to be excellent.) Lily has it all. Suspense, intrique, emotion, laughs. The first time I read this book, I read it like it's written, starting with Lee White as a lawyer who is handling an interesting case while ex-DA office coworkers give her dirty looks for going to "bat for the bad guys". All the goings on of looking into the lives of some very strange people who will con their way out of a paper bag. This storyline gets swapped back and forth every chapter with Lee's parent's marriage, her childhood, her marriage (and ultimately it's demise), leading up to the moment she finds herself secure enough to live a happy-ending life. The style of this book was different and Isaacs takes care to not make it confusing to the reader. Her words are intelligent and the story kept me going til I put it down. A while after I read it through the first time, I picked it up and read every other chapter to follow that story, then went back and read all the opposite chapters. Different tone, but just as delicious. You get more for your money with Lily White.

Rating:
Summary: 2 interesting, 2 heartbreaking, 2 books in 1
Review: I read Isaacs' Compromising Positions a fews years back and stumbled across Lily White in the library. (incidentally, i found Compromising to be excellent.) Lily has it all. Suspense, intrique, emotion, laughs. The first time I read this book, I read it like it's written, starting with Lee White as a lawyer who is handling an interesting case while ex-DA office coworkers give her dirty looks for going to "bat for the bad guys". All the goings on of looking into the lives of some very strange people who will con their way out of a paper bag. This storyline gets swapped back and forth every chapter with Lee's parent's marriage, her childhood, her marriage (and ultimately it's demise), leading up to the moment she finds herself secure enough to live a happy-ending life. The style of this book was different and Isaacs takes care to not make it confusing to the reader. Her words are intelligent and the story kept me going til I put it down. A while after I read it through the first time, I picked it up and read every other chapter to follow that story, then went back and read all the opposite chapters. Different tone, but just as delicious. You get more for your money with Lily White.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book
Review: I read this book over a long weekend. I didn't want anyone to talk to me because I couldn't put it down. I did not realize until a few chapters into it that there were two parallel story lines, both so interesting that I wanted to finish each chapter as soon as possible. Everyone will love this book.

Sometimes I had to reread lines when she uses a few cutesy terms but that is my only criticism.

Rating:
Summary: Prepare to be thoroughly entertained!
Review: I was drawn in immediately by the interesting characters. Susan Isaacs juxtaposes chapters narrated by Lee White, criminal defense attorney with con man for client, against chapters narrated by Lily White, daughter of Jewish-but-trying-not-to-be social climbers, to produce a book I didn't want to put down.

We learn from Lee White about defending a con man charged with murder, while Lily (Lee-Lee) White tells us about her chain-smoking fashion-plate mother and the rest of her very interesting family.

Definitely worth reading!

Rating:
Summary: Is the con man's defense attorney being conned herself?
Review: That's the question criminal lawyer and JAP, Lee White (nee Lily White, with all the expected commentary), keeps asking herself as she prepares a defense for Normal Torkelson, a con man accused of murdering his most recent mark. At the same time that Lee is narrating this story, a 3rd person POV narrator is telling us Lee's history from birth through the present.
How do we know this? Because the Torkelson narrative is in Times Roman and Lee's, in Helvetica.
Using typography to differentiate, where the written word should suffice, is indicative of the problem with this novel: it is one big (459 pp.) snore. Isaacs never has decided what genre she writes in: does she write romances with a soupcon of mystery, or mysteries with a hint of romance?
I admit to bias here; I do not enjoy reading romance novels. So I think Isaacs is at her best when she is concentrating her efforts toward the elements of mystery and suspense. Had she done so with _Lily_White_, the book would have been half as long and four times a better read.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious, engrossing, amazing twists- best of Susan Isaacs
Review: There is no one quite like Lee White. Although everyone finds a part of themselves in Lee White, Susan Isaacs incredibly realistic character. Witty, funny, intelligent reading. Recommended to anyone who enjoys really knowing the characters they read and being engrossed in their lives. Lee finds that perhaps the best way to make yourself happy is to be not quite perfect. Being, not the damsel in distress nor the perfect feminist model, Lee's wit and point- blank look at life make her character incredibly relatable. Isaacs leaves you feeling like looking back after a long trip, complete with u-turns and potholes, but glad you bought your ticket.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: This was my second Isaacs book. This and "After All These Years" are the best as far as I am concerned.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: This was my second Isaacs book. This and "After All These Years" are the best as far as I am concerned.