24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Visit Home to Covington, April 27, 2008
I love this series! Another year in the lives of Hannah, Amelia, and Grace. Hannah's daughter has a bad boating accident off the coast of Puerto Rico and loses her husband in a hurricane. She has no where else to go- so she moves in with the ladies of Covington to recover from her loss.
Their very kind neighbor has an awful diagonsis.
Meanwhile Grace's son Roger has eyes for David even though he is in a committed relationship with Charles.
Death, birth, heartbreak, new loves, renewal and healing abound in this installment in the series.
You will love it!
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
ONE MORE YEAR IN THE LIVES OF THE LADIES, July 7, 2002
This review is from: From the Heart of Covington: A Novel (Ladies of Covington) (Hardcover)
With the third offering in Joan Medlicott's popular Covington series her trio of silver haired ladies have grown older but apparently not incrementally wiser. Amelia is as credulous and wide-eyed as ever, competent, blustery Hannah still says the wrong thing, and kind hearted Grace with the ever present bandanna tucked into skirt waistband toils in the kitchen. Nonetheless, their irrepressible spirits suggest that life doesn't begin at 40 but rather at 65.
Since leaving Pennsylvania for a farm in Covington, North Carolina, the adventuresome triumvirate has survived fire, a duplicitous suitor, a failed business, greedy land developers, and annual invasions of ladybugs.
It is now 1999 and the Y2K scare is approaching. But, the greatest challenges facing the ladies involve their hearts as woes beset family and friends.
Hannah's estranged daughter, Laura, has been seriously injured in a hurricane, a storm that killed the man she loved. The young woman Hannah describes as "hard to handle, rebellious," is invited to recuperate at the farm. Covered with scars, her leg in a cast, sedated for the journey, Laura arrives. She is in physical pain, and emotionally bereft.
In addition, Laura finds much at the farm irritating; "...the creak of the porch floor under the ladies' rocking chairs, the minuscule bathroom that forced her to leave the door ajar with her toes out in the hall."
Surprisingly, it is Amelia who makes the first breakthrough. Recalling the depression she felt when her husband died, she is able to establish a fragile bond with the young woman, eventually forging a friendship over bowls of coffee ice cream.
However, Amelia soon finds more to occupy her mind. Her recently found talent for photography proves to be more than a hobby when her work is selected for showing at a New York gallery.
Hannah is filled with anticipation after she is asked to be director of the Bella Maxwell Park and Preserve, gardens, hiking trails, campsites, museums, and "a living Indian village" to be established on the 700 acres of land saved from developers' strip malls.
It would seem that the ladies' lives are taking different paths as Grace receives a call from a dear friend, Brenda, who has just learned that her husband is terminally ill. As always, Grace finds a way to help.
To compound this concern, Grace is diagnosed with diabetes, a fact she resolutely denies, and she is worried about Lucy, a young friend. Officials suspect that Lucy may be an abuse victim. Grace also fears that her son, Roger, will be unfaithful to his longtime companion.
Sound like a soap opera? At times it is. Yet, it is an opera filled with sustaining values - friendship, loyalty, kindness, and love. Granted, there are times when one would like Grace's indignation to be expressed a bit more forcefully than wanting to "snatch back a bandanna" she has given or one is tempted to push Hannah into communicating with her daughter.
Yet once again Medlicott portrays Southern characters with precision and fondness, while decorating her tale with expressive descriptions of seasonal foliage. Fans will welcome From The Heart Of Covington, another year in the life of the ladies and one more reminder of all that glitters in golden years.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I absolutely hated to finish this book!, May 1, 2002
This review is from: From the Heart of Covington: A Novel (Ladies of Covington) (Hardcover)
The Covington Ladies and their white farmhouse are back! When I saw this newest book I was overjoyed, and stepped back into the lives of Amelia, Grace, and Hannah, without missing a beat. From the Heart of Covington opens with Grace finding Hannah in tears. Hannah's daughter, Laura, was in a hospital in Puerto Rico with severe injuries. She had been living on a houseboat with her boyfriend, and a hurricane had dashed the boat to bits on a reef. The boyfriend was dead, and Laura was emotionally devastated with no place to go to recuperate.
The ladies took Laura in and surrounded her with love and warmth, teaching a lesson of triumph over the depths of despair following the death of a loved one. From The Ladies, Laura learned how to live again, even though she felt that her life was hopeless. She even became a vital part of Covington and the beautiful gardens being built by Hannah.
When Grace discovered that she was diabetic I felt her dismay, because she is a wonderful cook on whom everyone depends for social events. Then when Amelia had a New York display of her fabulous pictures, I was overjoyed for her. The characters in this book are so real that they become like old friends and I find myself worrying about them, laughing with them and anticipating their next adventure.
***** I have such happy times reading about the ongoing lives of Amelia, Hannah, and Grace, that I absolutely hated to finish this book. Many of the scenes are so descriptive and beautiful that this book not only entertains the reader with the adventures of The Ladies, but also pleases the senses with such beautiful visual images that I often read a passage twice just to picture the scene. Joan Medlicott is masterful with her use of personification and metaphors, and I can hardly wait for the next book about The Ladies. Please let there be another, because I miss them the minute I turn the last page. *****
Reviewed by Ruth Wilson.
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