Borders exist--lines of demarcation to

be found on no map - that, once crossed,

place people in regions where compro-

mise is no longer possible. Elizabeth

Spencer s new novel is set on the Missis-

sippi Gulf Coast, across such a bound-

ary. It is the story of ctiltivated people

not given to rash or obsessive behavior-

unless aroused. It takes place in the

aftermath of Hurricane Camille, and

tells of an abiding rivalry between two

men, and of their women--one whose

hold reaches beyond her death, and

one whose charms break that hold.

THE SALT LINE is all extraordinary

novel by one of America s finest writers

-her first new novel in ten years. The

New York Times calls Elizabeth Spen-

cer "a kind of smiling sibyl, unafraid of

her news." The Atlantic says, "Her art

reaches beyond the familiar toward new

experience and the new knowledge it

brings." And now, with THE SALT LINE,

her work will capture the popular imag-

ination as it does the critics acclaim.