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In the Company of Others: Book summary and reviews of In the Company of Others by Jan Karon

In the Company of Others

A Father Tim Novel

by Jan Karon

In the Company of Others by Jan Karon X
In the Company of Others by Jan Karon
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  • Published Oct 2010
    416 pages
    Genre: Literary Fiction

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Book Summary

Jan Karon's new series, launched with her New York Times bestselling Home to Holly Springs. In this second novel, Father Tim and Cynthia arrive in the west of Ireland, intent on researching his Kavanagh ancestry from the comfort of a charming fishing lodge. The charm, however, is broken entirely when Cynthia startles a burglar and sprains her already-injured ankle. Then a cherished and valuable painting is stolen from the lodge owners, and Cynthia's pain pales in comparison to the wound at the center of this bitterly estranged Irish family.

In the Company of Others is a moving testament to the desperate struggle to hide the truth at any cost and the powerful need to confess. Of all her winning novels, Jan Karon says this "dark-haired child" is her favorite - a sentiment readers everywhere are certain to share.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Though it's not the ideal entry point to the expansive world of Father Tim, fans will relish this new chapter in his life." - Publishers Weekly

This information about In the Company of Others was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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John Mark

Very fine
This book is simply lovely. It is now the twin of my other favorite ‘A New Song.’ I did grow early of the journal entries, but I never enjoy that sort of thing. This is a masterful work, in my view the closest thing to literature Jan Karon has ever written. I loved the characters, the setting, the tone, the descriptions, the mood and her insight into human nature. I hope that before her career draws to a close she will give us at least one more book of this caliber. I love her all work, have it all in hardcover; this is definitely a cut above.

Shirley

My least favorite!
I have totally loved each book in the Mitford series, until now. Too many characters introduced and then the journal made it even worse, it was really painful at times. Need more Tim and Cynthia. I, also, would have enjoyed better if the plot had included cousin Walter and Katherine.

Cookie G.

IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS
I have read all of the Jan Karon books but I found In The Company of Others--too many characters, names too hard to pronounce and not enough Tim and Cynthia. I am now re-reading Home to Holly Springs and love it more the second time around.

darlena

doesn't come close to the Mitford series
The other reviewers said it very well; too wordy, difficult to understand and, most of all, I missed Cynthia, who was (out with a broken leg - why? Pleeaasse, - write a different series! How about one where the protagonists are Dooly and Lace?

H. Smith

Not up to former quality
I love all her books but this one. I re-read all of them every couple of years and thoroughly enjoy them and are blessed by them. This particular one was not of that caliber and I have never re-read it. Actually, I loaned it to a friend who had them same impression as I did. I told her to keep it or else pass it on. I await the next Karon book with high expectations that it will be a return to the blessing that the previous ones have been.

Molly M.

"In The Company Of Others"
Having read all of the Jan Karon books, and loving every one of them, I anxiously awaited "In The Company Of Others". I have never been so disappointed as I was in this book. It is hard to follow and understand. Maybe if you had lived in Ireland for some time it might be easier. It is dull and full of pointless drivel. It was an absolute chore to finish the book, because most of the time I was completely lost as to what was going on. I do not recommend this book. I certainly hope the third of the series is back at home in America and written in the Jan Karon style that we all know and love.

...4 more reader reviews

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Author Information

Jan Karon Author Biography

Jan Karon was born in Lenoir, North Carolina, in 1937. Her creative skills first came alive when her family moved to a farm. Jan knew that she wanted to be a writer, and even wrote a novel at the age of ten. Her first real opportunity as a writer came at age eighteen when she took a job as a receptionist at an ad agency. She kept leaving her writing on her boss's desk until he noticed her ability. Soon she was launched on a forty-year career in advertising. She won assignments in New York and San Francisco, numerous awards, and finally an executive position with a national agency.

Jan went on to have a highly successful career in the field, winning awards for ad agencies from Charlotte to San Francisco. In time, she became a creative vice president at the high-profile McKinney & Silver. ...

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