Reviewer: Amy Lignor
Title: In the Company of Others - 2nd in the Father Tim series (He's still a part of Mitford!)
Author: Jan Karon
Publisher: Viking
ISBN-13: 978-0-670-02212-0
Release Date: October 2010
Genre/Sub-genre: (Inspirational) Fiction
Year/Setting: Present Day/Sligo, Ireland
Overall Rating: 4.5
Sexual Content Rating: None/Subtle
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: None/Mild
Violent Content Rating: None/Negligible
Jan's Website/Blog: www.mitfordbooks.com
Dear Readers:
This fantastic author has been writing The Mitford Series of books as well as the Father Tim novels for quite a while, and I hope she continues for at least the next fifty years. I am so unbelievably in love with Ireland that this new book has become my favorite of both series’. Even when you visit Ms. Karon’s website, the Irish music flows from your computer speakers, and you are immediately swept away into this incredible world of beauty, history, and dreams.
In this new Father Tim novel, we begin in a small car chugging its’ way through a hideous thundering rain storm down a one-lane road that is, in fact, one of the most frighteningly small avenues that anyone could ever go down. Seated in the backseat of the vehicle are Father Tim and his beautiful wife, Cynthia. They had made plans for this trip to Sligo where they would be meeting two others to enjoy a well-deserved vacation.
Surviving the horrific drive, they walk into the inn – Lough Arrow guest lodge – which is run by a wonderful married couple named Anna and Liam. With the electricity off because of the storm, they are shown to their bedroom, fed, and introduced to the other guests who are having the time of their lives on their own vacations. One evening, a person appears in Cynthia’s bedroom and disappears out the window, but not before injuring her ankle and causing Cynthia to have to stay in the Inn for at least ten days in order to heal. No one can tell who the mystery person was, or what they were looking for, but strange things soon begin to start happening at the Inn.
There are many characters introduced with many backgrounds, and most want to speak with Father Tim about literally everything. Bella, who is Anna’s daughter from her first marriage, is a young woman who seems to be awfully angry. Soon, she finds herself becoming friends with Cynthia, as Father Tim begins to have private talks with Liam about his family, as well as listening to Anna’s pain, fret, and worry about her own private issues.
Soon, Tim is meeting with Liam’s mother as well as his brother, Paddy, who doesn’t get along with Liam at all. Mysteries start to unravel not only from their conversations, but also from a diary left behind by a Philadelphia-trained Irish physician who talks about old secrets that date back to the 1860’s. In this faded ink, Father Tim and his wife find clues to a very old crime, as well as a family’s secrets.
Every single scene that is in this book takes the reader into the Irish world – old and new. From the language, to the old diary entries, to Liam’s family and the matriarch of said family, this book becomes an absolute "can’t put down" read. As I said before, I have been a huge fan of the Father Tim novels as well as the Mitford series of books, but this one was especially dear to me. Everything from the scenery to the fantastic dialogue kept me completely engrossed from the first to the last page. Enjoy!
Until next time,
Amy
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