At Home in Mitford (The Mitford Years, Book 1) [Paperback]

Jan Karon (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 1, 1996

The first novel in Jan Karon’s bestselling and beloved Mitford series

It's easy to feel at home in Mitford, North Carolina. In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are friendly. Yet, Father Tim, the bachelor rector, wants something more. Enter a dog the size of a sofa who moves in and won't go away. Add an attractive neighbor who begins wearing a path through the hedge. Now, stir in a lovable but unloved boy, a mystifying jewel theft, and a secret that's sixty years old. Suddenly, Father Tim gets more than he bargained for. And readers get a rich comedy about ordinary people and their ordinary lives.
  

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Father Tim, a cherished small-town rector, is the steadfast soldier in this beloved slice of life story set in an American village where the grass is still green, the pickets are still white, and the air still smells sweet. The rector's forthright secretary, Emma Garret, worries about her employer, as she sees past his Christian cheerfulness into his aching loneliness. Slowly but surely, the empty places in Father Tim's heart do get filled. First with a gangly stray dog, later with a seemingly stray boy, and finally with the realization that he is stumbling into love with his independent and Christian-wise next-door neighbor. Much more than a gentle love story, this is a homespun tale about a town of endearing characters-- including a mysterious jewel thief--who are as quirky and popular as those of Mayberry, R.F.D. --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly

The first two novels in Karon's Mitford series chronicle the everyday eccentricities of a small North Carolina town.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 446 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books (February 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014025448x
• ISBN-13: 978-0732413996
• ASIN: 014025448X
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (506 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

178 of 187 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Visiting Mitford is a peaceful retreat! May 15, 2000

By Jennifer N. Germanotta

Format:Paperback

As a voracious reader, having read hundreds and hundreds of books over the past twenty plus years; I can honestly say the Mitford series has been the best yet! Never has a fictional book touched my heart as these have. As I began reading the series, I found myself making changes in my life brought about by Ms. Karon's writings. Familial relationships, friendships, my faith, and my personal contentment have all been enriched by Father Tim, Barnabas, Dooley, and the residents of Mitford. In her writing, Jan Karon empowers her readers to find peace, happiness, and contentment in their own lives through the lives of her gentle characters.

The series of five books begins with "At Home In Mitford" which introduces the reader to Father Tim, a cherished Episcopalian rector in the town of Mitford. The residents of Mitford will surely come to take up residence in your heart as you read through this heartwarming series of miracles, love, mysteries and everday life which take you into the lives of Mitford's charming, eccentric, and lovable citizens including Father Tim's big black dog, Barnabas, who can be instructed to behave with a mere verse of scripture!

63 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Characters, dialogue, funny predicaments...it's all here. September 4, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I absolutely loved 'At Home in Mitford'. It is probably the best book I have ever read. As a mother of three small children, I rarely get to read anymore. I was surprised by a friend with a gift of this book. When I started reading - I just couldn't hardly put it down. I looked forward to my quiet reading moments with an unquenchable enthusiasm and finished it in record time (finishing a book is alone a record for me)! The characters were so vivid - I felt I knew each one. One negative reviewer criticized the character "Catherine" when the name is actually "Cynthia" (makes me wonder whether THAT interviewer actually read the book) and she is a character so full of life,so quirky, happy, and fun-loving; she reminds me of my incredible mother. Another one of the few negative reviewers said that it was boring. Well, I don't want to give any of the many interwoven plot lines away so I will just say that a lot of real "action" doesn't happen on the show 'Friends', for instance but you watch it for the characters. It is more 'on par' with "Steel Magnolias" than "Hunt for Red October". Another great asset of this book is it's DIALOGUE. I just laughed throughout the entire book. I would LOVE to meet Jan Karon. And finally, this book was an incredible blessing to my Christian walk. To read a 'picture' of caring people SHOWING their love was so uplifting. I pray that it will bring many blessings to many others. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the Mitford series.

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Pure escapism at it's best! February 26, 2001

By Dianna Setterfield

Format:Paperback

Call me crazy, but I'd LOVE to live in Mitford--a place where nothing happens but your occasional dog-napping, jewel-thievering, and finding strangers in your attic.

Sound boring? Oh, but what a nice, calming change of pace that would be! Jan Karon has written a terrific, wholesome story about a small village in North Carolina where wonderful and sometimes strange things happen. Written through the eyes of the Episcopalian priest, Father Tim shows us a refreshingly old-fashioned life where goodness and kindheartedness prevails. You get to meet many lively and eccentric characters who quickly become your friends and who make life in Mitford such a pleasure and a privilege.

At Home in Mitford is the perfect diversion from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives. A calm, relaxing novel full of charm and sassy wit that "celebrates ordinary people leading ordinary lives." Though not for everyone, especially for those who need lots of action in their reading, this novel goes down like a cool glass of lemonade on a hot summer day. Enjoy!

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Jan Karon introduces readers to her mountain village! August 23, 2000

By "iloveprovence"

Format:Paperback

At Home in Mitford is a gentle escape from the stress of modern life. Set in the mountains of North Carolina, Mitford is a town, seemingly lost in another age, asleep while the rest of the world marches on. I read this book at bedtime and it was a wonderful way to fall asleep. Father Tim is an Episcapol priest, who at 60, has never been married. His life is predicatable, a little boring, but fairly enjoyable. He is loved by his parish because of his folksy approach to fulfilling his role as their priest. He is a familiar, gentle old shoe to the entire community, and he radiates with pleasure from the town's eccentric and predictable daily life. This is a town buzzing with quaint goings-on that bring fuzzy warmth to an open reader. I read some of the complaints about this book, such as there is no plot and the characters aren't developed. It's true, the plot is simplistic and most of the characters the reader only meets on the surface. But we only need to glimpse these characters as Father Tim does. They are interesting and amusing, but they don't all offer the challenges and interruptions of Father Tim's life, and they don't need to do so. There is Barnabas, the dog, Dooley, the neglected and "lost" kid from the poor, unapproachable ghetto-village up the mountain, and Cynthia, the novelist-new neighbor to fulfill the story's need for character development. And of course, there is Father Tim. This story is not one to receive literary prizes, but it does deliver, in a big way, to the need for a place where everyone helps one another, where the worst thing that happens doesn't spill blood, and life is predictable and reassuring and treasured and it's safe to go jogging at night.