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Thousands of readers have come home to Mitford, the little town with the big heart, whose endearing and eccentric residents have become like family members. But now change is coming to the hamlet. Father Tim, the Episcopal rector, and his wife Cynthia are pondering retirement; a brash new mayoral candidate is calling for aggressive development; a suspicious realtor with plans for a health spa is eyeing the beloved house on the hill; and, worst of...

The final volume in the "Mitford Years" series finds Father Tim contemplating the revival of a remote mountaintop church, a challenge he hopes will be his ultimate calling, but fears will be an impossible task.

It's easy to feel at home in Mitford. In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are generally lovable. Yet Father Tim, the bachelor rector, has more than he can handle--with church secretary Emma Garrett managing his every move, a lovable but unloved boy named Dooley thrust into his care, and the charm of a new neighbor who effects surprising change in his stick-in-the-mud habits.

A retired Episcopal rector accepts an interim post on an island off the coast of North Carolina, where new challenges and adventures await him and his wife.