Rating: 
Summary: The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love
Review: I just finished treating myself to a reading marathon with The Ladies. Some of the episodes I especially enjoyed were Amelia's facing danger during a photo shoot, Grace's coping with disillusionment, and Hannah's dealing with her teenage grandsons. I could list dozens more. Watching each woman make new friends in Covington was fun, and the unexpected link-ups were intriguing. This novel is an affirmation that people need never stop growing. Each woman demonstrates the reward of "feeling the fear" and taking action in spite of it. Herein lies the reason reviewers describe it with the word inspiring. The portrayal of weaknesses as well as strengths of the women makes them thoroughly human, as real as the people in our own lives whom we love even while feeling exasperated by their behavior at times. My affection for these women grew continually as I was reading. I got caught up in watching the progress of each one as she worked to accomplish her individual goal, and their common goals. I feel as if I have three new friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Love Ya Right Back!
Review: I loved reading about three spunky ladies trying to shape their own lives and live their own way. Sure, the small town characters and complications are somewhat predictable, but this is still an uplifting and enjoyable book. I'm looking forward to reading more about life in Covington. As the author of a book for women (NEW PSALMS FOR NEW MOMS: A KEEPSAKE JOURNAL), I applaud books that celebrate and respect women and the families they nurture.
Rating:
Summary: The Ladies of Covington is a Wonderful Read!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed The Ladies of Covington Send their Love, which is the story of three women over 65 who are redefining their lives, starting careers, and falling in love. These women--Hannah, Grace, and Amelia--offer a dynamic vision of growing older. When Amelia inherits a rundown farmhouse in rural North Carolina, the women pool their resourses and move from a dismal boarding house to the tiny hamlet of Covington. Consequently, friendships are tested, survive, and grow stronger. As each woman is confronted with possibilities, she must review the habits and limiting beliefs of a lifetime. Joan Medlicott makes no attempt to mitigate the challenges the women face as they strive to make a home together. A comforting sense of extended family comes into play as their tolerance and ability to accept one another is tested--by loneliness, anger, jealousy, joy, and satisfaction. Ultimately, the support system they provide one another is to be envied. I thank Ms. Medlicott for introducing me to these three wonderful and wise older women, all of whom I fell in love with. I look forward to reading more by this exciting author!
Rating:
Summary: Caught Up In The Ladies Of Covington
Review: I was so ready for a book I could be swept away in and I found it in The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love! This was a comfortable, delightful read from the first page - reminded me of reading The Mitford Series. I feel I have known these women, I want to be with these women, and someday, I want to be one of these women. Such a fresh approach to the latter years of life! Young in spirit if not in body. A wonderful reminder of the role my women friends play in my life. Thank you Joan Medlicott for this refreshing book. I am waiting for you to write for us again!
Rating:
Summary: Oh how I hated to see it end
Review: I'd like to meet all the Ladies of Covington....particularly Hannah and Grace. Amelia is a bit weak but fits into the picture. The "ladies" meet all sorts of "life issues"....old fears, re-live past sorrows, past failures...and through sharing it all...come through with flying colors. Granted I'm about the age of Hannah, Grace and Amelia so I could really relate to their foibles and successes and how they approached a situation.They may all three be a little "sugar=-coated" but reading this book will give you a real lift...although....beware....a few tears may fall too. Enjoy...but don't think you've got it figured out...there are lots of surprises.
Rating:
Summary: Oh how I hated to see it end
Review: I'd like to meet all the Ladies of Covington....particularly Hannah and Grace. Amelia is a bit weak but fits into the picture. The "ladies" meet all sorts of "life issues"....old fears, re-live past sorrows, past failures...and through sharing it all...come through with flying colors. Granted I'm about the age of Hannah, Grace and Amelia so I could really relate to their foibles and successes and how they approached a situation.They may all three be a little "sugar=-coated" but reading this book will give you a real lift...although....beware....a few tears may fall too. Enjoy...but don't think you've got it figured out...there are lots of surprises.
Rating: 
Summary: It was OK.
Review: If you are looking for a real page turner, this is definitly not your book. It is a nice slooooow moving story about three older women who go out on their own. It was extremely predictable, and had very few exciting moments. Unlike my friends I did not fall in love with any of the characters, I found them annoying(Amelia)and extremely self centered(Hannah). If you liked the Mitford series your gonna love this one. Just make sure you pump a lot of stong coffee into your system before you settle down with this book!!!
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Summary: Golden Years don't have to mean Stale Years
Review: If you're in your "Golden Years," you'll enjoy Medlicott's first novel. She addresses ageless issues older generations have faced since the dawning of forever. Three widows live in a Pennsylvania boardinghouse: Amelia, mysterious, cultured; Grace, voracious reader with heart trouble; Hannah, former plant nursery owner. Each from the Traditional Generation of "little woman barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen," complete with domineering husbands. Amelia, soon after having a benign colon tumor removed, receives notice from an unknown attorney: a long-lost cousin has left her $50,000 and a farmhouse in Covington, North Carolina. She persuades Grace and Hannah to go with her to inspect her inheritance. However, we have a small problem. Hannah's back hurts too badly to drive. Amelia hasn't driven in years. Grace drives but never on interstates. Her normal driving speed is thirty-five miles an hour and she's scared to drive. Hannah says to Grace, "Fear's a box we grow used to, convince ourselves it's all the space we need, that we like its smell, ........... " Medlicott sprinkles such tidbits of wisdom throughout. After telling their landlady their plans, she says they can do no such thing. Hannah says, "Is it because we're over sixty-five that we need a keeper? Medicare's the cutoff point for what, intelligence, judgment,................................." Despite screeching protests from children and friends, the nervous but determined trio pack Hannah's old station wagon, Nelly, and make way for Covington, at a breathtaking thirty miles an hour. Time passes, Hannah's courage grows and she drives faster. Medlicott's picturesque scenes sparkle with sensuous details -- "At Winchester they entered the Shenandoah Valley, a place of charming hillside towns, of livestock grazing in pastures, of meandering .................................. " In Covington, they find the farmhouse dilapidated. They decide to stay until Christmas to make restorations. The spunky trio's confidence grows as they overcome continuous obstacles: title threat to the farmhouse, loved one contacts HIV, then a flood, and fire. But, they thrive while experiencing the thrill of rebuilding their lives: Amelia finds a talent for photography, Hannah starts a new business while Grace publishes a novel and begins a non-traditional romance. Publishers Weekly says, "Medlicott's idea is a winner: women in their twilight years finding alternatives to large group homes or living alone............................" Another quote women will love is from Sandra Dallas, author of The Persian Pickle Club: "Joan Medlicott's novel is proof that a woman's life begins, not ends, at a certain age, that men are nice ............................" Born in the Virgin Islands, Medlicott has taught history, been Director of Beaufication for the Virgin Island Government and led environmental battles by standing in front of bulldozers. Her first book, non-fiction, Celibate Wives: Breaking the Silence, received national newspaper and radio coverage. She currently lives in North Carolina. Lifetime Television bought TV rights to The Ladies from Covington Send Their Love, an excellent candidate for Oprah's Book Club.Harry Odum is a published author and president of The Literary Review Service.
Rating: 
Summary: Not much more than nice
Review: Ladies of Covington isn't exactly a page turner. I doubt anyone under the age of 40 would enjoy it. It was a nice easy read though and a glimpse into the lives of who could be any aging person you come into contact with everyday. It was a simple reminder that when you reach a certain age you don't quit feeling and you can still be frightened by the future. I admired the respect three women with very different personalitys and pasts had for each other but it seemed a little unrealistic to me. The women I know in that age bracket are a little more set in their ways and I can't imagine any of them living together in one household so harmoniously.
Rating:
Summary: One of my top three picks
Review: Our book club recently became acquainted with this novel, along with two others: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, and a book titled, BIRTH OF VENUS. While I was thinking that these were my top three picks, everyone else in the group obviously thought the same thing, for we decided that these three novels are the best of the best--and we read a lot! Of the three, THE LADIES is our favorite and we plan to visit the other "Covington" novels. Do youself a favor and read these three great books!
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