Join Father Tim on a profoundly personal journey back to his childhood home in this charming novel in #1 New York Times bestselling author Jan Karon's Mitford series. Thirty-eight years have passed since Father Tim Kavanagh left his Mississippi hometown, determined not to return. Then he receives a handwritten note postmarked Holly Springs. Cryptic and unsigned, it says only Come home. These two words compel him to make the most challenging journey of his life. 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. And once Father Tim discovers who was behind the mysterious note, a truth is revealed that will change his life—forever.

"A romance between an Anglican priest and a children's book writer who moves into his neighborhood. It is set in Mitford, North Carolina, where life is peaceful and problems are overcome with prayer and some good cooking." --Publisher.

Follow Father Tim and Cynthia on their journey to research his Kavanagh ancestry in the Irish countryside in this novel in the beloved Mitford series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jan Karon. Vacation—the very word has been foreign to Episcopal priest 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. As three generations struggle to find deliverance from the crucifying power of secrets, Tim and Cynthia stumble upon a faded journal that might just explain the crime—and offer a chance at redemption.

Now available in large print—Father Tim takes on a new challenge in this inspirational installment in the beloved Mitford series by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bathed in Prayer. Father Tim Kavanagh has been asked to “come up higher” more than once. But he’s never been asked to do the impossible—until now. The retired Episcopal priest 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.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jan Karon welcomes you back home to Mitford in this inspirational novel that “hits the sweet spot at the intersection of your heart and your funny bone” (USA Today). 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. How can he possibly help Dooley’s younger brother, Sammy, make it through the fallout of a disasterous childhood? Could doing a good deed for the town bookstore be the best thing for his befuddled spirit? And who was riding through town in a limo? Not Edith Mallory. Then an editorial in the weekly Muse poses a question that sets the whole town looking for answers: Does Mitford still take care of its own?

A new Reader's Guide for group discussion or personal reflection is included in this series-packaged bestseller. With his heart distracted by his free-spirited neighbor Cynthia, and his stomach and the rectory cash box distracted by Edith, Father Tim must decide whether he will practice what he preaches.

C.1 COUNTY FUNDS. B & T. 11-19-2007. $26.95.