What do You think about Light From Heaven (2006)?
I'll use this review to review the entire series:What I liked: -Miss Sadie's stories-Uncle Billy's jokes-the local people, especially the mountain folk-the "food" talk (I got hungry every time I listened to this)-the excellent narrator of this audio set, John McDonoughWhat I disliked: -I know, I know, we are supposed to love Cynthia but I found her to be too needy, demanding and affected. Toward the end I wanted to puke everytime she zapped Father Tim with her "sapphire" eyes and when she recited "what she did not like". And I'm sure all the other working mom readers had to laugh at how she found keeping house for herself and Father Tim to be too much work. Give me a break. And, funny how her physical description looks just like the photo of the author.-the simplicity of the "message" - if all it took was a simple prayer to make your life better there wouldn't be enough churches in the world to hold all the believers.-things were too easy with the transformations of Dooley and Lace (although maybe they were smart enough to realize what a good deal they were getting)
—Sonia
This is the last in the Mitford Series. Father Timothy Kavanagh is an Episcopal priest living in Mitford, NC.While anticipating retirement and a trip to Ireland with his wife Cynthia he is asked to farm sit for several months while the owners, the local Vet, and his wife are away.Though not officially retired, his Bishop asks him to resurect an old country church that hasn't been used in years. With the help of the townsfolk and his wife he brings the church back to life and helps to improve the spiritual lives of the residents of the area.The descriptions of the rural setting and the old farm house are lovely. The author always includes a map of Mitford and the surrounding areas in all the Mitdord series books.I have to say this is a nice positive story; but I wasn't enjoying it as much as the other books in the series. Alot of the conversations are written with the rural southern accent spoken by the mountain folk of NC. Sometimes I found it difficult to understand.This isn't my favorite in the Mitford series; but I would still recommend it. The story is positive and inspiring.I would suggest reading the series in order.
—Ruth
This is the ninth and last of Jan Karon's 'Mitford' series about the American Episcopal priest Father Tim and his delightful wife Cynthia. In this novel, Tim and Cynthia spend a year at their friends' farm, Meadowgate, while their friends are away. It's not far from Mitford, so Tim (and we, the readers!) manage to keep up with news of old friends. But Tim also gets asked to take on a new job: to re-start a regular service at a small church in the mountains. There he meets the wonderful Agnes - an elderly and robust lady who gave many years of her life to the mission field. Having been aquainted with two such ladies myself, I found her believable and a great asset to the novel.A few reader reviews on Amazon objected to the new characters who were introduced in this story. I thought it was a great idea to start some new threads; otherwise the book would have been too much like the previous ones. Yes, there were some ongoing plot-lines which were nicely tied up in this book, but if that had been all, it would have felt rather slow and tedious. As it was, Tim's new parish and parishioners provided a nice contrast to his older friends in Mitford.Of course there's a Christian theme running through the book, mostly low-key although there are a few pages of Scripture explanations and mention of the 'Sinners' prayer'. Although a Christian myself, I often find such things rather cringeworthy in novels, and indeed I did find myself skimming a bit when these cropped up. But they're mostly well-written and fit well with the story and characters so they don't feel too out-of-place. It would be quite possible to skip those passages although an understanding of what they are about probably adds to the enjoyment of the novel in general.I enjoyed reading this in its rightful place in the series, directly after reading all the others. But I think it probably could have been read as a novel on its own, since there were the fresh characters. All in all, I thought it an excellent ending to the series.
—Sue
