AT HOME IN COVINGTON

More sad things happen to three nice old ladies: the fifth in a series.

Grace, Amelia, and Hannah soldier on, still sorrowful in the aftermath of September 11, but determined to do right. Grace, a hospice volunteer at the deathbed of her gay son’s partner Charles, must come to terms with her own diabetes and attendant complications. Her vehement aversion to artificial sweeteners is firmly established. She must have her tea with sugar, or life will not be the same. Hannah, the dedicated gardener, receives an old diary in the mail that reveals hitherto unknown facts about Dan, the now-dead love of her life. Apparently the woman he married cared little for him: a bitter irony. Amelia, the photographer, suggests a cruise to the Virgin Islands. A kindly shipboard lecturer fills them in at length on the history of this tropical paradise—Medlicott is prone to padding—and a good time is had by all. Still fretting upon their return to North Carolina, Grace takes up journaling, carefully following the rules (such as they are) of self-discovery and putting her random, rather peevish thoughts to paper. Then she turns her mind to more pressing matters and tries hard to get her blood sugar under control. As Jacob wrestled with the angel, so Grace must wrestle with carbohydrate cravings that threaten her health.

Corny but comforting in its way.