A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER#1 New York Times-bestselling author Jan Karon returns with the fourteenth novel in the beloved Mitford series, featuring three generations of Kavanaghs.Wounds heal, bonds grow stronger, and celebrations continue…Welcome back to beloved Mitford. After twelve years of wrestling with the conflicts of retirement, Father Tim Kavanagh realizes he doesn’t need a steady job … Father Tim Kavanagh realizes he doesn’t need a steady job to prove himself. Then he’s given one. As for what it proves, heaven only knows.
Millions of Karon fans will be thrilled that it’s life as usual in the wildly popular Mitford series: A beloved town character lands a front-page obituary, but who was it, exactly, who died? And what about the former mayor, born the year Lindbergh landed in Paris, who’s still running for office? All this, of course, is but a feather on the wind compared to Muse editor J.C. Hogan’s desperate attempts to find a cure for his marital woes. Will it be high-def TV or his pork-chop marinade? In fiction, as in real life, there are no guarantees.
Twenty minutes from Mitford at Meadowgate Farm, newlyweds Dooley and Lace Kavanagh face a crisis that devastates their bank account and impacts their family vet practice. But there is still a lot to celebrate, as their adopted son, Jack, looks forward to the most important day of his life–with great cooking, country music, and lots of people who love him. Happily, it will also be a day when the terrible wound in Dooley’s biological family begins to heal because of a game–let’s just call it a miracle–that breaks all the rules.
In To Be Where You Are, Jan Karon weaves together the richly comic and compelling lives of two Kavanagh families, and a cast of characters that readers around the world now love like kin.
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I love the book and hated for it to end. Jan is a wonderful writer.
I have read every one of the books in the Mitford series. Love the characters but I think the next one needs to take Father Tim to a different location and new characters.
To Be Where You Are by Jan Karon is the fourteenth A Mitford Novel. Father Tim is surprised when he receives a call that Esther Bolick has passed away. He is asked to return to Lord’s Chapel to give her eulogy. Dooley and Lacy Kavanagh have an unexpected expense when the pipes burst at Kavanagh Animal Wellness Clinic. Lacy has an opportunity to earn the money needed, but it would mean going away for a couple of months. Would it hinder the completion of Jack Tyler’s adoption? Life is always busy and full in Mitford. Come along for a visit and catch up with all your favorite characters.
Let me start by saying I have been a fan of the Mitford series since the beginning. But I have noticed a difference in Jan Karon’s writing style in the last two books. To Be Where You Are is my least favorite book in this series. It was all over the places. I wish Ms. Karon had kept the focus of the story on Father Tim, Cynthia, Dooley, and Lacy. Every other chapter was on a different character. You would just settle in to one person’s story and it would change to someone else. You then have to figure out which character it has jumped to and remember what happened to them five or so chapters ago. You just start to figure it out, then it’s a new chapter and you have to start all over again. It lacked the flow that was present in the earlier books in the series. It was just about impossible to keep track of all the various characters and what was happening to each of them. I do not recommend reading this book as a standalone. You need to read the books in order. My rating for To Be Where You Are is 3 out of 5 stars (it was okay). This story failed to capture and hold my attention.
I have enjoyed every single book that Jan Karon has written.
To be where you are. Isn’t that what most people want with their spouse or significant other? Or even a close friend or pet? Many people make sacrifices to be with their loved ones and to offer help when it is needed. The newest title in the Mitford series continues the story of Father Tim and his family. We met Father Tim, then a bachelor Episcopal priest, in At Home in Mitford. He had an eye for his new neighbor Cynthia, an issue with his dog, Barnabas, who only behaved when scripture was spoken, and the problem of a young orphan boy whose best behavior included cussin’ and spittin’. Dooley was ornery, rough, and begging to be loved. Throughout the series, we have watched these characters grow, and in To Be Where You Are, Dooley and his wife Lace are planning a ceremony to make an official family declaration with their newly adopted son. Sacrifices have to be made to make life work, but that is what family is all about. Dooley continues to build his veterinary practice, and handle life on a farm, with a new family secret to tell.
I love coming home to Mitford. I don’t know if this is going to be the last in the series. I hope not. I think there are still more stories to tell. We’ve seen Dooley grow up to be a wonderful man and husband. Father Tim has built a family and we have watched beloved characters come and go. Now it is time to see what stories can be told about the family of Doc Kavanagh.
Love her character development.
I love Jan Karon’s books and this one most of all.
Mitford is a town anyone would love. It is very inspirational and up lifting.
Another great book in the Father Tim series. Jan Karon never disappoints.
I’ve devoured all Jan Karom’s books.
I loved this book
Mitford is always a great place to visit and I will return repeatedly.
Great book in the series.