Mitford, a quaint little town in North Carolina is the setting for this Jan Karon book. At Home in Mitford is the first in a series about the town of Mitford and Father Tim Kavanagh, priest of the Episcopal church. Mitford is a town most everyone would love living in with warm-your-heart street names such as Lilac Road, Wisteria Lane, Old Church Road. Of course, a small town like Mitford has the local hot spots such as the Main Street Grill where everyone goes for the local gossip and Father Tim is no exception. Most mornings you will find Father Tim at the Grill for his breakfast.

At Home in Mitford starts out with a big black dirty dog jumping up on Father Tim as he was unlocking his office one morning. Father Tim tries to get the dog to back off but nothing he says deters the dog from licking his face. Father Tim quotes a bible verse “let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth”, that helps him to remember he isn’t a cursing man. At the quoting of the verse the dog quit licking Father Tim and sat down. The dog adopts Father Tim and Father Tim learns that the way to control the dog is the quoting of bible verses.

Father Tim is 60 years old, unmarried and his life is about to change when he takes in the church’s ailing gardeners grandson. Dooley is from “the Creek area’ and has very little schooling and talks in “the Creek vernacular” something Father Tim knows needs correcting if the boy is going to amount to anything. Life as Father Tim knows it will never be the same.

Then, another change takes place, the house next to the rectory gets a beautiful new tenant. Pretty soon there is a path worn in the shrubbery between the two houses. Marriage follows, the first for Father Tim and the second for his pretty neighbor.

Life in Mitford is anything but dull for the rector and his missus. Jan Karon takes us through the routine, the funny and loving happenings and , to me, the spiritual inspirations of what it is like living in a small rural town such as Mitford, where the spiritual needs are met, where friends look out for one another and life is centered around your church family. Father Tim is very close to the people of his congregation and keeps himself busy with ministering to their spiritual needs as well as being a good friend to most of his flock.

Of course, things don’t always go the way Father Tim would hope them to go and I found myself giggling out loud at some of the ways Father Tim managed his trials and tribulations. This book is not deep reading but a light hearted easy read that kept me wanting to go on to find out what happens next.

I am in the middle of chemo for colon cancer and At Home in Mitford has helped me to fill up my time during the chemo sessions and has also given me a spiritual lift when I most need it, plus some laughter along the way. At Home in Mitford is the first in a series, A Light in the Window, These High, Green Hills, Out to Canaan are the next three books of the series. I have read the first four books and am on the fifth, A New Song. All the books flow from one to the other so it is one long continuous story which I like. I will be checking the library for the others in this series when I finish A New Song.

Jan Karon lives in Blowing Rock, North Carolina and was an award winning advertising executive before following her dream of writing books. At Home in Mitford was named an ABBY Honor Book by the American Booksellers Association in 1996, 1997, and 1998. At Home in Mitford and Out to Canaan appeared on the New York Times and other best seller lists. At Home in Mitford was a main selection of Crossings Book Club, and a super release of The Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club. The first four books in this series are also available in large print, I do not know if any of the others in the series are.

Recommended: Yes