To Be Where You Are

By Jan Karon

Book Overview

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 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399183744
• ISBN13: 9780399183744
• Release Date: August 2018
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.0" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Nice, family-oriented series, including this book.

I absolutely loved the Mitford books. Each book revealed more relationships and people in this old-fashioned, friendly town. It also showed us their struggles and times of celebration. I laughed, I cried (when a couple characters died). I became part of the Mitford family. Couldn't wait to read the next book. However, I was very sad when I finished all the books. It was like a loss of the comfort I felt while immersed in each book.

Still a great read!

This is the latest in the Mitford Series; possibly the last. I already loved the story, the characters, and the writing style of Jan Karon, so I knew I'd love this title, too. The writing in this one is a little choppy compared to the previous titles, and I did find it hard to follow at times, but it's still a great read. The setting of a little mountain community in the South creates the backdrop for some very colorful characters, and their stories range from heartbreaking to hilarious. Father Tim is the Episcopal priest that loving meddles in their lives, becoming a part of their stories. I've not only found this series to be entertaining, but educational in a way, as Father Tim sets a beautiful example of what it means to selflessly serve God in such a variety of circumstances. As the author reveals this central character's thought process as he deals with difficult people and intense situations, the reader recognizes that he, as the rest of us, is simply a somewhat flawed human being trying to do his best. Much of the book is light-hearted in tone, and peppered throughout are the traumas of real life. I very much recommend this series for anyone who would enjoy what amounts to pretty light fare. The writing is excellent (although this particular title isn't as buttoned up as the ones preceding it), and the characters are wonderful! If this is the final book of the series, I have to say I hate to see it end!