Airs and Graces

Three engaging female protagonists at turning points in their lives animate James's (A Breath of Fresh Air) deftly plotted third novel. Events in this airy comedy of manners unroll over a period of six months in a small town in Cheshire, in northwest England. Ellen Jacobs, recently divorced from the husband who abandoned her to run off to the South of France with a younger woman, has been displaced from her comfortable home and upper-middle-class life. Living in a modestly refurbished cottage, she has started a business arranging dried flowers. Sustained by her older, rather eccentric friend Hermione, Ellen is determined not to marry for love again. Instead, she entertains hopes of a secure but dull second marriage to Duncan Carter, her prosperous divorce attorney. Enter young, pregnant and homeless Jo-Jo, who literally crosses Ellen's path as she begs for a handout on a Crantsford street. With little to spare for themselves, Ellen and Hermione take pity on the runaway, offering her food and shelter. Jo-Jo turns out to be domesticated and helpful and to have plenty of common sense; in fact, she becomes the catalyst who helps Ellen to decide between stolid Duncan and Hermione's attractive, artistic godson. Various complications and surprises keep the plot moving briskly. (July)