WHITE LADIES

Headliner on the publisher's list this Fall, and slated for a big advertising push and cooperation with the trade in getting behind the book. So your first job is done for you -- putting the book before the public. Now for the follow through. In the Brett Young history, the book ranks high, a good, substantial story, essentially English, and with that savor of place which characterizes the best of the Brett Young work. The story of a self-made family, the Tinsleys, whose fortunes had their roots in the clay pits of the Black Country. The central character is the granddaughter of Bella Tinsley, the Cinderella of the fairy tale, who finds herself an heiress just as her house of cards has tumbled about her head. She becomes the ruthless grande dame -- she knows what she wants and she takes it. Up to this point, the story is slow in gathering speed -- from the point of her accidental discovery of her dream place come true, White Ladies, the pace accelerates, and gathers impetus until -- the victim of her own relentless determination, whether for herself, her man or her child -- she falls under the curse of White Ladies. A meaty book -- those who like the chronicle novel and the English setting will find it entirely to their taste. Others may find it somewhat ""dated"" in style.