The Mitford Years Books in Order: How to read Jan Karon’s series?

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Welcome to Mitford, America’s favorite small town!

What is The Mitford Years series about?

At the age of 50, Jan Karon left her career in advertising and moved to Blowing Rock, North Carolina, in order to pursue her dream of becoming an author. One night, she dreamt of a street and a character that led her to create her series.

The Mitford Years is taking us to a little town with a big heart where the most ordinary people live the most extraordinary lives.

Set in the fictional town of Mitford, North Carolina, the story centers on the life of the rector, Father Tim, as he finds love, a family, a dog and must go through all sorts of important events with the help of the people of Mitford.

How to read The Mitford Years Books in Order?

Every book in the Mitford Years series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

At Home in Mitford The Mitford Years Books in Order A Light in the Window The Mitford Years Books in Order A Common Life The Mitford Years Books in Order

  1. At Home in Mitford – It’s easy to feel at home in Mitford. In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are generally lovable. 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.
  2. A Light in the Window – Father Tim is in need of divine intervention. His attractive neighbor is tugging at his heartstrings. A wealthy widow is pursuing him with hot casseroles. And his red-haired Cousin Meg has moved into the rectory, uninvited.
  3. A Common Life – (originally published after A New Song) This is The Wedding Story! Mitford’s Lord’s Chapel is the home to the most joyful event in years: the wedding of Father Tim Kavanagh and Cynthia Coppersmith.

These High Green Hills The Mitford Years Books in Order Out to Canaan The Mitford Years Books in Order A New Song The Mitford Years Books in Order

  1. These High, Green Hills – At last, Father Tim has married his talented and vivacious neighbor, Cynthia. Now, of course, they must face love’s challenges: new sleeping arrangements for Father Tim’s dog, Cynthia’s urge to decorate the rectory, and more. Add a life-changing camping trip, the arrival of the town’s first policewoman, and a new computer that requires the patience of a saint, and you know you’re in for another engrossing visit to Mitford.
  2. Out to Canaan – Father Tim and his wife, Cynthia, are pondering retirement as a brash new mayoral candidate is calling for aggressive development, a suspicious realtor with plans for a health spa is eyeing the beloved house on the hill, and, worst of all, the Sweet Stuff Bakery may be closing.
  3. A New Song – Father Tim has retired. But new challenges and adventures await when he agrees to serve as interim minister of a small church on Whitecap Island. He and his wife, Cynthia, soon find that Whitecap has more than its fair share of challenges, but in the end, Father Tim and Cynthia find that Mitford is never far away when circumstances back home keep their phone ringing off the hook…

In this Mountain The Mitford Years Books in Order Shepherds Abiding The Mitford Years Books in Order Light from Heaven The Mitford Years Books in Order

  1. In This Mountain – Though Father Tim dislikes change, he dislikes retirement even more. As he and Cynthia gear up for a year-long ministry across the state line, a series of events sends shock waves through his faith-and the whole town of Mitford.
  2. Shepherds Abiding – When Father Tim finds a derelict nativity scene that has suffered the indignities of time and neglect, he imagines the excitement in the eyes of his wife, Cynthia, and decides to undertake the daunting task of restoring it.
  3. Light from Heaven – Father Tim Kavanagh takes on the revival of a mountain church that’s been closed for forty years. Meanwhile, in Mitford, he’s sent on a hunt for hidden treasure, and two beloved friends are called to come up higher as well. As Father Tim finds, there are still plenty of heartfelt surprises, dear friends old and new, and the most important lesson of all: It’s never too late.

Home to Holly Springs The Mitford Years Books in Order In the Company of Others The Mitford Years Books in Order

The next two books are also known as the first two novels in the Father Tim series.

  1. Home to Holly Springs – Traveling to his boyhood home doesn’t merely take Father Tim across hundreds of miles. Thanks to a thousand sights and smells, he also travels back through memories-some fond and some he’s tried for nearly forty years to forget, from his quick-to-anger father and his lovingly tender mother to the picturesque small town he’d tried desperately to leave behind.
  2. In the Company of Others – Vacation-the very word has been foreign to Tim Kavanagh. Now retired from tending his flock in the village of Mitford, he is making good on a promise to show his wife, Cynthia, the charming land of his Irish ancestors. But after arriving at a Lough Arrow fishing lodge in the midst of a torrential downpour, the charm disappears. They find their holiday upended by an intruder, a treasured painting is stolen from the lodge, and a family conflict dating back nearly a century turns even more bitter.

Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good The Mitford Years Books in Order Come Rain or Come Shine The Mitford Years Books in Order To Be Where You Are The Mitford Years Books in Order

  1. Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good – After five hectic years of retirement from Lord’s Chapel, Father Tim Kavanagh returns with his wife, Cynthia, from the land of his Irish ancestors. While he’s glad to be at home in Mitford, something is definitely missing from his life: a pulpit. But when he’s offered one, he decides he doesn’t want it. For years, he believed he had a few answers. Now he has questions.
  2. Come Rain or Come Shine – Father Tim Kavanagh’s adopted son Dooley 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. By the way, it’s a pretty casual affair, so come as you are and remember to bring a tissue or two.
  3. To Be Where You Are – At Meadowgate Farm, 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 that breaks all the rules.

If you like our article about the Mitford Years series in order, don’t forget to bookmark it! You may also be interested in The Miss Julia novels by Ann B. Ross (also set in North Carolina) or Debbie Macomber’s books.

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6 Comments

  1. Thank you so much for the synopsis of the Jan Karon books. It gets a bit confusing when you pick up a book and think it is next and then all the references to other situations don’t make any sense. I wonder if Penguin books or other publishers have a common site that directs readers to a research site for serial writings?

  2. in book 2 A Light in The Window, u had a passage abt people being welcome in the house. I can’t find it to save me. Could you please tell me where t find it?
    Thank you so much
    Sandy

  3. Father Tim and Cynthia just rode off into the sunset in their camper. Is there another book coming? Need to follow him till he leaves this earth!

  4. Thank you for the reading of each book I love them each. They all have there own way of telling you God does bless each one of us. Can’t believe I’m done reading where do I go next. Thank you for blessing me with your books.

  5. I am confused as to why A Common Life is not listed as #3 in the series. Father Tim has already married Cynthia by book #6????

    1. It was published after “A New Song,” but it indeed takes place after “A Light in the Window.” I’m updating the reading order, thanks for your comment.

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