To Be Where You Are: My Review

To Be Where You Are

About the Book:

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.

My Comments:

I've read most of the Mitford books and like many long-time fans will, I'm sure, I grabbed this one when it became available (I got it on NetGalley).  I wanted to visit with old friends and watch them have new adventures.  However, I'm about a third of the way in and I have no desire to finish.  I think every person in Mitford has at least made an appearance and if  you haven't read the other books, they will mean very little to you--they meant little to me because it has been a couple of years since I read the last book.  I'm hoping that by the end of the book Lace finds out that she really can have a baby, but other than that, well, so far nothing in this book has grabbed me and I'm having trouble keeping people straight, or even figuring out who is on stage right now.  

Thanks to the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade C (real Mitford fans may enjoy it, but don't bother with this if you haven't read the others.  

Review: Come Rain or Come Shine

Come Rain or Come Shine (Mitford Novel, A)

About the Book:

Over the course of ten Mitford novels, fans have kept a special place in their hearts for Dooley Kavanagh, first seen in At Home in Mitford as a barefoot, freckle-faced boy in filthy overalls. Now, Father Tim Kavanagh’s adopted son has graduated from vet school and opened his own animal clinic. Since money will be tight for a while, maybe he and Lace Harper, his once and future soul mate, should keep their wedding simple. So the plan is to eliminate the cost of catering and do potluck. Ought to be fun. An old friend offers to bring his well-known country band. Gratis. And once mucked out, the barn works as a perfect venue for seating family and friends. Piece of cake, right? In Come Rain or Come Shine, Jan Karon delivers the wedding that millions of Mitford fans have waited for. It’s a June day in the mountains, with more than a few creatures great and small, and you’re invited—because you’re family. By the way, it’s a pretty casual affair, so come as you are and remember to bring a tissue or two. After all, what’s a good wedding without a good cry?

My Comments:

One thing I like about the Mitford novels is following a core group of characters through the stories and seeing how life changes for those characters.  Unlike many series romances in which each installment features a different couple, with the people who are introduced in earlier books just serving as background scenery, the Mitford stories carry readers through many years in the life of Fr. Tim, who is an Episcopal priest, his family and friends.  Unfortunately, at some point I think it is time to tell those characters goodbye and move on to new families.  

Come Rain or Come Shine tells the story of Dooley and Lace's wedding and the weeks leading up to it.  Despite the intentions to keep things simple, it seems that everyone who could be invited was.  I've read enough of the Mitford books to recognize the names of many of the characters, but it has been long enough since I read them that I couldn't really put faces and stories with names.  Karon drops a few details but mostly the reader is left feeling like a "plus one" at a family wedding.  The point of view shifts frequently and it can take re-reading to figure out who is observing or thinking at the time. 

The wedding scene itself was beautiful and Fr. Tim's advice to the newly married couple was spot-in. 

In short, if you are a Mitford fan and want to attend the wedding of Dooley and  Lace, I think you'll enjoy the book.  If you haven't read the other books, give them a try--they will warm your heart, but leave this one until the end.  Without the other stories, this one is just another stranger's wedding.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making this book available via NetGalley.  Grade: B-