I loved this book. It was recommended to me by a coworker, and after I read it, I immediately reached for the second and third and all of the books in the series. If you like books that have a good story to them and continue the storyline into great detail through a series of books, then this is for you. I really enjoyed them.

I read this a long time ago, and I didn't like it, yet I never understood it. Then I read it a few years later, and I enjoyed it much more this time.

I really wanted to like this book. I was looking forward to reading it. I couldn't. As hard as I tried, I could only get three quarters the way through this overly sweet novel. The first chapter should start out, Once upon a time... Everything is too perfect. The town is perfect. Everyone gets along. There are no disagreements. The dialogue between the characters is too sweet and perfect. Nobody talks like these people. Even Dooley, the hostile young boy, doesn't come across as that hostile.
There is nothing to hold your interest in the story. The personal challenges that the characters are faced with seem to be presented a softened way, unlike the challenges in real life. When the characters are faced with these challenges they seem to easily except them, providing that the situation doesn't amazing work itself out. I understand and respect Karon's attempt to demonstrate the power of prayer and faith, but not every prayer is answered so directly or perfectly.
There are alot of shallow areas in this plotless book. There are a couple of points that the story could have really been interesting while hanging onto Karon's aim to write a "clean" Novel, but she kills the intrigue through neatly resolving the problem. The characters seem shallow. You don't really get to know their personal inner feelings, which would help make the story more interesting. Perhaps the only positive point to the book, it's that it is a clean novel without any vulgarity.
I had the priviledge to grow up in a small town. There was a feeling of closeness in the community, but not everything was always so clean cut and clear. It hosted a variety of different people who weren't all best friends. Situations developed and usually had more challenge to them. In time, these challenges were overcome, but no so easily. Unlike Mitford, people faced real problems and sometimes the resolutions to these problems didn't just seem to work themselves out, it took work (I'm sure, at times, prayer was included).
The book seriously has a fairy tale feel to it. If this is what you're looking for than maybe you'll enjoy it. Otherwise, choose another book, this one's really a waste of both time and money. If you still feel compelled enough to read it, borrow a copy and hang on to your hard earned money. Good intentions, poor results.

Oh Father Tim and the whole town are so wonderful and so warm. I read the whole series more than once. I love the way you feel when you read this book, and you think you know all the people as your neighbors. If you have ever lived in a small town, you will enjoy this book. It is so "small town USA" and exactly like the town that I grew up in Illinois. To all who did not get to experience this kind of childhood, I am sorry.
I love the way that the author could discribe these characters without any explicit language, a rare thing in todays literature.
I have given the first book of this series to all my friends who are looking for a good read and I have never had one complaint. They beg for more..and ask where they can get the next book.
This is a good choice to discuss because the characters are so different and yet so alike. Everyone seems to gets different perceptions when they read this book and it is fun to see what others find that I might miss. Jan Karen is quite a writer and I hope she changed her mind and give us more of Mitford or something as welcoming..Great book!

Father Tim, a bachelor rector, resides in Mitford North Carolina. You will be drawn in to the delightful life of living in Mitford through Father Tim's experiences of companionship, caring, counseling, and love. Reading this book is like putting on your favorite pair of shoes...familiar, comfy, and warm.