Natural Bridges

Folksy Kentucky dialect and observations of blue-collar life authenticate this story, an unsentimental look at a white-trash family whose ""illicit approach to social norms'' embarrasses the protagonist and threatens to ruin her chance for happiness. Twenty-year-old Fern Rayburn works part-time as a service-station attendant when not devoting herself to her emotionally needy family, particularly her pregnant but unmarried sister. When handsome John Culler, a student at the nearby university, invites Fern out fishing, she winds up hooking him both literally and figuratively. Fern's adept treatment of the fish hook wound to his neck leads to a job offer as a veterinary assistant, and to contemplation of college. With opportunity finally knocking (in terms of love, career and education), Fern is frustrated by her family's opposition. But even as Fern endeavors to loosen the ties to her hillbilly clan, her kind heart makes allowances for their crass and selfish behavior. For the first third of the book, McCampbell can't seem to decide what kind of novelist she wishes to beDa regional fabulist of the quirky school or a polemicist defining family values. Fern herself is endearing, both in her sensitivity to others and in her tug-of-war between duty to her relatives and achieving her own happiness. In repeatedly spelling out Fern's dilemma (""I had forfeited self. I was an assistant, everyone's helper''), McCampbell telegraphs her message with a heavy hand. But her uncondescending picture of an unsophisticated woman searching for identity and independence is convincing in its honesty and affection. (Feb.)