Light from Heaven by Jan Karon

Title: Light from Heaven (The Mitford Years, Book 9 of 9)
Author: Jan Karon
Released: November 8, 2005
Publisher: Viking Press
Pages: 384
Overall: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

While farm-sitting with Cynthia outside Mitford, Father Tim is charges with the revival of Holy Trinity, a mountain church that’s been closed for forty years. His bishop’s further mandate: “Get it up and running, ASAP.” Fortunately, he’s been given an angel (albeit one with an unlikely talent for barbering).

Though challenged and often doubtful, Father Tim’s soul lifts up as he gathers the flock that dwells “above the clouds.” Among them is bedridden Dovey, who lives with the clues to her mysterious illness in plain view. Robert, who wrestles with the aftermath of a crime Father Tim is convinced he didn’t commit. And the antisocial Jubal, who’s trying hard to hold God at gunpoint.

But that isn’t all that Father Tim is struggling to say grace over: Louella sends him on a wild goose chase to find Miss Sadie’s long-hidden cash. A windstorm knocks his household winding. Two beloved Mitford friends are also called home. And answered prayer comes knocking at his door.

If I were reading Jan Karon’s final Mitford installment as a stand-alone novel, I would have given it only three stars. The upped rating is simply because it’s a Mitford novel–an essential part of a fabulous series. Overall, I enjoyed the book, which is no surprise considering I’ve enjoyed every other book I’ve read by Jan Karon. Still, I felt it was a bit of a disappointment, and not as well-written as I would expect the last in the series to be–especially with such a prolific author at the helm.

Plot: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

A year spent at Meadowgate Farm seems the perfect transitional setting for Father Tim and Cynthia’s last year in the Carolina foothills. Like the Kavanagh’s sojourn to Whitecap in book five, which introduced Father Tim’s life of retirement to readers, so this latest sojourn to Meadowgate eases their passing from Mitford to the big world beyond these high, green hills. There are many lovable, quirky, and sometimes crazy characters waiting in the mountains, and their adventures are just as exciting as any we’ve encountered in Mitford over the course of eight previous books. Unfortunately, the execution of these tales is not up to Jan Karon’s normal standards (as noted below, under “writing”).

Characters: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Jan Karon introduces us to many new characters in the vicinity of Meadowgate Farm, and enriches our understanding of old characters, such as the “Turkey Club” (now convening at Lew Boyd’s Exxon), the conniving Edith Mallory, and of course the re-building Barlowe family. Also making a return from the grave is Miss Sadie, who, though just as thoroughly dead as ever, makes a comeback with a hidden stash of cash that Louella insists must be found. Much like in A New Song, we don’t get to know the mountain folk as well as those in Mitford because of the limited time Father Tim is able to spend with them. Nonetheless, they are a creative bunch, full of character, and abounding in strange foodstuffs.

Ending: ☆ ☆ ☆

To wrap up such an epic series, I was expecting a more robust ending. It felt like Karon started to rush at the end, trying to tie up little bits of the story left unresolved, and didn’t do as good a job as I know she’s capable of. I understand leaving a few loose ends, since Father Tim’s journey continues in the following Father Tim Series, but there were some characters–who I don’t expect to be resurfacing any time soon–whose stories needed a bit more closure to leave me satisfied. (Jubal, Edith Mallory, Dovey, and Lace and Dooley are prime examples of this.) I also felt that Karon’s flitting about between snippets of dialogue and description towards the end was confusing and a too sporadic.

Writing: ☆ ☆ ☆

Karon is an excellent writer, as she has demonstrated time and time again with earlier Mitford books, but in Light from Heaven she fills up too much space with unimportant prose–space which should be used to work towards a more satisfying plot resolution. While reading, I also noticed that Karon scatters sub-plot hints here and there throughout the book in such a way that by the time I reached a point where I should have been able to fit together enough pieces of the puzzle to clue into what was going on, I’d plumb forgotten what the previous hints were. This was quite frustrating. I doubt whether the editor made it to the end of the manuscript, because I found an entire single-sentence paragraph repeated on one page. Frankly, I think that many of these issues that reflect poorly on Karon as an author are the result of an incompetent editor.

Cover: ☆ ☆ ☆

I find this cover rather boring. The painting is lovely, but doesn’t have much interesting detail, and there’s no real color scheme. It’s not hideous, but it’s not particularly eye-catching either.

Other things you can do:
Visit Jan Karon’s website.
Purchase a copy of Light from Heaven.

Source: I borrowed my copy of this book from my local library.