Book Review: Home to Holly Springs

Jump to Comments

Jan Karon’s Home to Holly Springs is the first in a new series involving Father Tim. It’s distinct from the Mitford series because it takes place primarily out of Mitford and Father Tim and his immediate family are the only characters, so far, continuing on in the series, though others are referred to occasionally.

In this book Father Tim receives an unsigned note in the mail with only two words: “Come Home.” It is from the town he grew up in, and he has enough curiosity and time in his schedule that he can drive there to spend a few days. There follows the trepidation of facing some of the painful memories of his past, particularly in connection with the harshness of his father, meeting old friends, visiting the old home place and the cemetery where his folks are buried, not to mention finding out who sent the cryptic note and what momentous news they have to share. It’s a journey that, though painful, I imagine many people would like to take to find resolution and closure.

All of Karon’s charm from the Mitford series is displayed in full in this new book.

I did have a couple of disappointments with the book, though. One was the use of some coarse language. I don’t remember this being a part of the earlier books, though it may have been and I have just forgotten. It is the type of thing you might hear as a Christian in the everyday world interacting with non-Christians, but, still, I don’t believe it was necessary to the story and I regret its presence.

Secondly, in the flashbacks we become aware of some of Father Tim’s youthful indiscretions. Of course we wouldn’t expect him to be as a child or teen-ager the man he was in later life, and none of us is perfect, but I was disappointed in the kinds of indiscretions the author had him experiencing, especially a very serious one in his teens. Perhaps the author had in mind to show that one can be forgiven from and recover from the sins of youth, which is certainly true.

The third initial disappointment was resolved later in the book. When in a flashback a young Timothy is being questioned by his priest and is asked about how to become a child of God, his answer is baptism. This was disappointing to me because the way of salvation as being by grace through faith and not of works was very clearly demonstrated in the earlier books. But later on Father Tim explains to someone else that it wasn’t until he was an adult and after he had been a priest for many years that he knew what it was to truly believe and to have truly been changed, and it is much more clear there.

If you liked the Mitford series, I am sure you will like this new one even without some of the characters from Mitford. It’s every bit as heart-warming.

Want this button?

6 Comments

Filed under Books