BETHEL LUTHERAN CHURCH and PRESCHOOL

These High, Green Hills

ONCE AGAIN, AMERICA'S FAVORITE SMALL TOWN WILL FIND A BIG PLACE IN YOUR HEART.

In the much loved tradition of James Herriot, Bailey White, Olive Ann Burns, and Garrison Keillor, Jan Karon has created a town where we feel wonderfully at home. In Mitford, a village nestled in the hills of North Carolina, she shows us small town life for what it really is: completely engrossing. And absolutely hilarious.

 In this irresistible third book of The Mitford Years series, Father Timothy Kavanagh is married to more than his lovable and eccentric Episcopal parishioners. He's also married to Cynthia, his vivacious and talented neighbor.

 Suddenly, the routine existence of a sixty something bachelor is out the window. How will they keep his sofa sized dog at a safe distance from her arrogant, albeit famous, cat?  Can he learn to love the old-Italian-villa look his wife is bent on giving the rectory?

 These concerns pale, however, beside the growing pains of Dooley Barlowe, the thrown away boy whom the rector loves as his own son. Then, the poverty and violence of an area known as the Creek comes knocking at the rectory door.

Clearly, being at home in Mitford has its challenges. And, when the rector goes on a camping trip with the church youth group, he's forced to confront the toughest challenge of all - his own fears. 

As only she can, Jan Karon again assembles characters as warmly familiar as those at a family reunion. In These High, Green Hills, the overweight newspaper editor finally does something for his heart   in more ways than one. Puny Guthrie, Father Tim's housekeeper extraordinaire, delivers a double surprise. Miss Sadie Baxter gives a gift that will forever alter someone's life. And Emma Newland, the Genghis Khan of church Secretaries, reveals a clerical skill that redeems her, in the rectors eyes, until kingdom come.

 So, curl up and relax, gentle reader. Following the enormously popular At Horne in Mitford,  and A Light in the Window, the little town with the heart is back. And its rich with everything you've come to expect from Jan Karon: uproarious laughter, heartfelt tears, and fresh hope.