Synopses & Reviews
"Karon knits Mitford's small-town characters and multiple story lines into a cozy sweater of a book.... Somewhere Safe hits the sweet spot at the intersection of your heart and your funny bone. 4/4 stars" USA Today
"Welcome home, Mitford fans...to Karon's gift for illuminating the struggles that creep into everyday livesalong with a vividly imagined world." People
"The faster and more impersonal the world becomes, the more we need...Mitford." Cleveland Plain Dealer
After five hectic years of retirement from Lords Chapel, Father Tim Kavanagh returns with his wife, Cynthia, from a so-called pleasure trip to the land of his Irish ancestors.
While glad to be at home in Mitford, something is definitely missing: a pulpit. But when hes offered one, he decides he doesnt want it. Maybe hes lost his passion.
His adopted son, Dooley, wrestles with his own passionfor the beautiful and gifted Lace Turner, and his vision to become a successful country vet. Dooleys brother, Sammy, still enraged by his mothers abandonment, destroys one of Father Tims prized possessions. And Hope Murphy, owner of Happy Endings bookstore, struggles with the potential loss of her unborn child and her hard-won business.
All this as Wandas Feel Good Café opens, a romance catches fire through an Internet word game, their former mayor hatches a reelection campaign to throw the bums out, and the weekly Muse poses a probing inquiry: Does Mitford still take care of its own?
Millions of fans will applaud the chance to spend time, once more, in the often comic and utterly human presence of Jan Karons characters. Indeed, they have never been more sympathetic, bighearted, and engaging.
Review
Praise for Jan Karon
“Jan Karon reflects contemporary culture more fully than almost any other living novelist.” —Los Angeles Times
“The faster and more impersonal the world becomes, the more we need . . . Mitford.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Welcome home Mitford fans . . . to Karons gift for illuminating the struggles that creep into everyday lives—along with a vividly imagined world.” —People
Review
Fantastic reviews for SOMEWHERE SAFE WITH SOMEBODY GOOD
"Karon knits Mitford's small-town characters and multiple story lines into a cozy sweater of a book.... Somewhere Safe hits the sweet spot at the intersection of your heart and your funny bone. 4/4 stars" — USA Today
"Welcome home, Mitford fans...to Karon's gift for illuminating the struggles that creep into everyday lives—along with a vividly imagined world." —People
“With the homecoming of much-beloved characters and a few new additions, Karons latest provides a return to a setting readers have been clamoring to revisit. Longtime readers will not be disappointed by the authors latest cozy redemption tale.”
—Library Journal
"The faster and more impersonal the world becomes, the more we need...Mitford."
— Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Loyal fans of Karons Mitford novels and Father Tim will be delighted once again to spend time in this quintessential American village with its leading citizen and his colorful coterie of friends, family, and dependent souls.”
— Booklist
"After a long hiatus, Karon has returned with a novel that offers something for those who believe and those who do not. All the beloved quirky characters are here, the past is neatly summarized and the future, full of hope." —Kirkus Reviews
“Terrific…built on the foundation of the first nine Mitford novels, ‘Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good is Karons best.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch
Synopsis
All good things—even laughter and orange marmalade cake—must come to an end.
And in Light from Heaven, the long-anticipated final volume in the phenomenally successful Mitford Years series, Karon deftly ties up all the loose ends of Father Timothy Kavanagh’s deeply affecting life.
On a century-old valley farm where Father Tim and Cynthia are housesitting, there’s plenty to say grace over, from the havoc of a windstorm to a surprising new addition to the household and a mystery in the chicken house.
It’s life on the mountaintop, however, that promises to give Father Tim the definitive challenge of his long priesthood. Can he step up to the plate and revive a remote, long-empty mountain church, asap? Or has he been called to accomplish the impossible? Fortunately, he’s been given an angel—in the flesh, of course.
Light from Heaven is filled with characters old and new and with answers to all the questions that Karon fans have asked since the series began nearly a decade ago. To put it simply—it’s her best. And we believe millions will agree.
About the Author
Jan Karon, born Janice Meredith Wilson in the foothills of North Carolina, was named after the title of a popular novel, Janice Meredith.
Jan wrote her first novel at the age of ten. "The manuscript was written on Blue Horse notebook paper, and was, for good reason, kept hidden from my sister. When she found it, she discovered the one curse word I had, with pounding heart, included in someone's speech. For Pete's sake, hadn't Rhett Butler used that very same word and gotten away with it? After my grandmother's exceedingly focused reproof, I've written books without cussin' ever since."
Several years ago, Karon left a successful career in advertising to move to the mountain village of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, and write books. "I stepped out on faith to follow my lifelong dream of being an author," she says. "I made real sacrifices and took big risks. But living, it seems to me, is largely about risk."
Enthusiastic booksellers across the country have introduced readers of all ages to Karon's heartwarming books. At Home in Mitford, Karon's first book in the Mitford series, was nominated for an ABBY by the American Booksellers Association in 1996 and again in 1997. Bookstore owner, Shirley Sprinkle, says, "The Mitford Books have been our all-time fiction bestsellers since we went in business twenty-five years ago. We've sold 10,000 of Jan's books and don't see any end to the Mitford phenomenon."