Books

Concluding Mitford

Jan Karon gives readers what they’re hoping for in the series’ final volume.

For nearly a decade, Jan Karon’s bestselling series about the “little town with the big heart” has delighted fans. They will find her trademark talents in full view in this concluding volume.

Light from Heaven(Mitford Years) by Jan Karon Viking, 384 pp.; $26.95

Father Tim Kavanagh and his wife, Cynthia, are on a farm, housesitting for friends. Artist Cynthia is hard at work on a new calendar featuring Violet the cat, while Father Tim undertakes reviving Holy Trinity, a mostly abandoned mountain church. With their (now formally) adopted son Dooley firmly on the right path, the aging couple takes on a new challenge: Dooley’s pool-shooting younger brother, Sammy. And the search continues almost to the closing pages for Dooley’s long-missing sibling, Kenny.

Woven throughout the narrative are hymns, jokes, short sermons, mouth-watering food (and some not so mouth-watering, such as squirrel soup), and colorful mountain characters and dialect. Strong themes of faith proliferate.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

Lauren Winner reviewed the book for our sister publication Books & Culture.

Light from Heaven is available from Amazon.com and other book retailers.

More information about Light from Heaven and the rest of the series is available from Mitfordbooks.com.

For book lovers, our 2005 CT book awards are available online, along with our book awards for 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997, as well as our Books of the Twentieth Century. For other coverage or reviews, see our Books archive and the weekly Books & Culture Corner.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

5 Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong

Ask Not What Your God Can Do for You

Serious About Ethics

What Would Jesus Buy?

Learning from Fools

Schedule, Interrupted

Warriors in Battle

Habits of Highly Effective Justice Workers

Morning Prayers

It's a Rap

Apathetic Agnostic

The Soul Hunters of Central Asia

Palau Pulls Back

Balancing Civility and Religion

Small Is Huge

How Not to Influence People

Bridge to a Place Called Home

Major Case on Minors

Some Habits of Highly Effective Justice Workers

Tongues Tied

Front Line Dilemma

News

Indecency Proposal

News

<em>Christianity Today</em> News Briefs

News

Go Figure

News

Just As He Was

News

<em>Jabez</em> Author Quits Africa

Unreality TV

A Tale of Two Kitties

Islam's Uncertain Future

News

Passages

Two Cheers for the Vatican

Nondescript Landmark

News

Quotation Marks

Editorial

Close Encounters with HIV

Making Do with More

A More Excellent Way

Editorial

We Are What We Behold

Politically Driven Injustice

Disappointed but Holding

Mao and Twentieth Century Totalitarianism

View issue

Our Latest

News

Black Clergy and Christians Grapple with Charlie Kirk’s Legacy

Many say the activist’s inflammatory statements on race should inform how we remember his life.

News

A Sudden Death: Voddie Baucham, Who Warned the Church of Fault Lines

Known for confronting critical theory, moral relativism, and secular ideologies, Baucham died a month into leading a new seminary in Florida.

Why Many Black Christians Reject the Evangelical and Mainline Labels

The history of a prominent church pastored by MLK in Alabama shows the reason African Americans often don’t embrace either term.

News

Pastor Abducted in Nigeria Amid Escalating Kidnapping Crisis

Armed gang continues to hold him after family paid the ransom.

Review

The Liturgy of American Charisma

Historian Molly Worthen studies dynamic leaders, eager followers, and their shared efforts to “consecrate a new reality.”

Inside the Ministry

The Next Gen Initiative

Casting a captivating vision of following Jesus for the next generation.

The Just Life with Benjamin Watson

Bruce Deel: Mercy With A Spine

Creating real pathways to stability so families can flourish through housing, work, and dignity.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube