TWO RIVERS

In her heartfelt debut, Williams tells a familiar tale about a young girl's struggle to rise above rural poverty, adding enough interesting twists in the second half to turn the book from a Southern coming-of-age story into a poignant, well-crafted life history. Liza Marion Brown is a bright, beautiful girl whose ambitions extend far beyond her small-town upbringing in the so-called Low Country of South Carolina 100 years ago. Liza's hardscrabble family life turns even rougher when her mother dies suddenly after a brief bout with breast cancer, and her father marries a feisty, cantankerous woman who fights constantly with Liza as the teenager tries to raise her siblings. Liza makes her first major misstep when she compromises in marriage, choosing friendship over passion to unite with Tom Brown, a compassionate family friend. The two end up raising a family, but Liza comes to rue her decision when she experiences an overwhelming attraction to an older preacher. Liza eventually rejects his advances to focus on her teaching career. The pace of the storytelling slows considerably after Tom is killed during World War I and the spotlight shifts to Liza's inner development as her children grow up and Liza finally fulfills her lifelong desire to write. Williams spins her story in an engaging, accessible style, although she rarely gets beneath the surface of the obvious emotions in the first half of the book. Liza's emergence in the second half adds complexity to the story line, however, making this a promising first novel by a writer who obviously knows her setting and cares deeply about her characters. Author tour. (Oct.)