The next book in the Mitford series by Jan Karon is “Out to Canaan.” Father Tim has decided to retire in a year and a half, and, although he hates to do it, he realizes he must announce this to his congregation. He has supplied the Mitford pulpit for sixteen years and loves the people like his own family. How will he bear to step down? Even though he and his wife, Cynthia, have made the decision to stay in Mitford after his retirement, it won’t be the same.
As soon as the announcement is made, some of the members begin to act as though he’s betrayed them in some way. Others treat him like he’s leaving right that minute, and tell him goodbye. Father Tim is uncomfortable with both – why can’t things continue as they were until it’s actually time for him to retire?
Meanwhile, although it’s still spring, one mayoral candidate is already campaigning. Mack Stroupe has gotten it in his head that he can overthrow Mitford’s long-time mayor, Esther Cunningham, and he’s bending over backwards to win the townspeople over to his way of thinking. But he’s never had a lot of money – how is he paying for the billboards and fancy barbecues, and how can he afford the large donations he’s started giving to Lord’s Chapel?
And what is up with Dooley Barlowe? Once a skinny, freckled, backwoods child, he’s now tall, handsome, flirting with girls and thinking about becoming a veterinarian. Whenever Father Tim thinks about where Dooley was, and how far he’s come, he could just about burst with pride. They’ve found his little sister Jessie and reuniting her with their mother Pauline, but they’ve still got two siblings left to locate. Father Tim understands why Pauline felt she had to farm out her children – as an alcoholic, she couldn’t care for them, but rounding them all back up is proving to be a challenge.
This gentle fiction series is a wonderful vacation from the hustle and bustle of real life and the crime we see every night on the news. If Mitford really existed, I think I’d move there tomorrow.
(This book was published in 1997 by Viking Penguin.)
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