Shepherds Abiding, Esther's Gift And The Milford Snowman

Zusatztext Praise for Jan Karon “Jan Karon reflects contemporary culture more fully than almost any other living novelist.”— Los Angeles Times   “The faster and more impersonal the world becomes! the more we need...Mitford.”— Cleveland Plain Dealer   “Welcome home Mitford fans...to Karon’s gift for illuminating the struggles that creep into everyday lives—along with a vividly imagined world.”— People Informationen zum Autor Jan Karon  is the #1  New York Times  bestselling author of the Mitford series, featuring Episcopal priest Father Tim Kavanagh. She has authored twelve other books, including  Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader , and several titles for children. Jan lives in Virginia near the World Heritage site of Jefferson's Monticello. Klappentext Experience the joys of a small town Christmas in this novel in the beloved Mitford series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jan Karon. Millions of Americans have found Mitford to be a favorite home-away-from-home, and countless readers have long wondered what Christmas in Mitford would be like. The eighth Mitford novel provides a glimpse, offering a meditation on the best of all presents: the gift of one's heart. Since he was a boy, Father Tim has lived what he calls "the life of the mind" and has never really learned to savor the work of his hands. When he finds a derelict nativity scene that has suffered the indignities of time and neglect, he imagines the excitement in the eyes of his wife, Cynthia, and decides to undertake the daunting task of restoring it. As Father Tim begins his journey, readers are given a seat at Mitford's holiday table and treated to a magical tale about the true Christmas spirit. One The rain began punctually at five o’clock, though few were awake to hear it. It was a gentle rain, rather like a summer shower that had escaped the grip of time or season and wandered into Mitford several months late. By six o’clock, when much of the population of 1,074 was leaving for work in Wesley or Holding or across the Tennessee line, the drops had grown large and heavy, as if weighted with mercury, and those running to their cars or trucks without umbrellas could feel the distinct smack of each drop. Dashing to a truck outfitted with painter’s ladders, someone on Lilac Road shouted “ Yee haw!,” an act that precipitated a spree of barking among the neighborhood dogs. Here and there, as seemingly random as the appearance of stars at twilight, lamps came on in houses throughout the village, and radio and television voices prophesied that the front passing over the East Coast would be firmly lodged there for two days. More than a few were fortunate to lie in bed and listen to the rain drumming on the roof, relieved to have no reason to get up until they were plenty good and ready. Others thanked God for the time that remained to lie in a warm, safe place unmolested by worldly cares, while some began at once to fret about what the day might bring. Father Timothy Kavanagh, one of the earliest risers in Mitford, did not rise so early this morning. Instead, he lay in his bed in the yellow house on Wisteria Lane and listened to the aria of his wife’s whiffling snore, mingled with the sound of rain churning through the gutters. Had he exchanged wedding vows before the age of sixty-two, he might have taken the marriage bed for granted after these seven years. Instead, he seldom awakened next to the warm sentience of his wife without being mildly astonished by her presence, and boundlessly grateful. Cynthia was his best friend and boon companion, dropped from the very heavens into his life, which, forthwith, she had changed utterly. He would get up soon enough and go about his day, first hying with his good dog, Barnabas, into the pouring rain, and then, while the coffee brew...

Product details

• Authors: Jan Karon
• Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 28.09.2004
• EAN: 9780142004852
• ISBN: 978-0-14-200485-2
• No. of pages: 336
• Dimensions: 128 mm x 198 mm x 15 mm
• Series: A Mitford Novel; A Mitford Novel; Mitford Novel; Mitford Years
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature