My Beloved: A Mitford Novel

In this 15th novel of the Mitford series—the previous three are Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good, Come Rain or Come Shine, and To Be Where You Are—author Jan Karon offers readers an unforgettable Christmas experience. My Beloved is, by turns, delightfully hilarious or tear-inducing, comically muddled or emotionally on track, yet it is always faith-filled and hopeful.

When Cynthia tells her husband, Father Tim, a retired Episcopal priest, that all she wants for Christmas is a love letter from him, he eagerly sets himself to the task. Soon, he discovers it’s almost impossible to put into words the vast love he feels for his wife, whom he married later in life. Finally, he completes the letter, seals it in an envelope on which he writes “Beloved,” and inserts it into a book of poetry he purchased for Cynthia. He carefully wraps the book in his “signature” green wrapping paper. He plans to place the book under the Christmas tree for Cynthia to discover on Christmas morning, and he envisions it “something like a tortilla of wry poems with a hot sauce of romance.”

But nothing happens as planned. When the gift goes missing, Father Tim is beside himself. He turns his office inside out to find it. He questions his housekeeper, Puny, and she in turn interrogates her boisterous kids. But, to no avail!

Though Father Tim doesn’t know where his gift went—he’s most concerned about the love letter in which he bared his soul!—readers become blessed witnesses to how the gift, particularly the letter, is inadvertently moved from place to place in Mitford and changes the lives of the people with whom it intersects.

Karon’s skillful plotting, masterful use of dialogue, spot-on characterization, and Christ-centered message make this a Christmas novel to be savored.

(G.P. Putnam's Sons)