BOOK REVIEW: In the Company of Others by Jan Karon

I have to tell you up front Jan Karon is my favorite author. I've read all her books and loved all but one. That said, I'll try to give as honest a review as possible.

In the Company of Others is the second book in the Father Tim series, the first being Home to Holly Springs. These two books vary from Karon's nine books in the Mitford Books series only in location and supporting characters. Father Tim is the main character in both series, but the Father Tim books are set outside of Mitford.

This book takes place in the town of Sligo, Ireland where Father Tim takes his wife Cynthia to show her where he had visited ten years earlier with his cousin Walter and Walter's wife Katherine, before Tim and Cynthia were married. Throughout the book, there are references and communication with family and friends back home and Mitford fans will feel comfortable with that.

What struck me throughout was how easily Father Tim slipped into the hearts of the Sligo people. Just as he did in Mitford, he spotted problems and found ways to solve them. Cynthia's foot is injured and she is unable to get around easily, leaving Father Tim to help the family members of the bed and breakfast where they are staying as well as others. Of course, Cynthia assists in handing out love and care from the bed and breakfast.

The author uses a book-within-a-book approach here that I found quite effective. Father Tim and Cynthia find a handwritten journal written by a doctor who had lived in 1860's and read them since Cynthia is limited in what she could do. What amazed me was the research that must have gone into writing the 1860's story to make it historical correct.

This book will hold your interest from beginning to end, and when it does end, you'll want to know when the next book in the series will be ready. I highly recommend it.