A Common Life (by Jan Karon)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m so pleased I decided to re-read my novels by Jan Karon, set in the (fictional) small American town of Mitford. They are warm and often poignant, yet tinged with humour. While some of the minor characters are a bit stereotyped, the main ones - the Episcopalian minister known as Father Tim and his neighbour Cynthia - are entirely three dimensional. They’re big-hearted, kind, and also vulnerable.

I last read ‘A Common Life’ in 2006. It’s the third, chronologically, in the Mitford series. It wasn’t written as the third book, but apparently the author had many requests to write about Tim and Cynthia’s wedding - and this book is the result. It follows on directly from ‘A Light in the Window’, which I re-read just over a month ago, starting when Tim finally plucks up the courage to propose to Cynthia.

It’s not a long book - less than 200 pages - but then it only covers a few months, and the focus is entirely on the engagement, the preparation for the wedding, the ceremony itself, and the honeymoon. Even then the author dips into the lives of the villagers rather than filling in all the details. So we see Esther, the maker of marmalade cakes, worried that she hasn’t been asked to bake the wedding cake. Miss Sadie and Louella wonder what dresses they should wear. Uncle Billy tries to find a good joke to tell at the reception…

It doesn’t all go smoothly, however. Cynthia, who is a highly successful author and illustrator, seems very confident; but we learn in this book a little of the emotional damage she sustained at the hands of her first husband. Dooley, Tim’s foster son, is very worried that marriage might mean the start of shouting matches. And though he likes Cynthia very much, he’s not at all sure whether he wants her living with them. He’s also a bit anxious because he’s been asked to sing a solo…

Tim’s cousins arrive for the wedding, but their luggage doesn’t. And then Cynthia, usually extremely punctual doesn’t appear at the church…

Once I’d started re-reading this book, I could hardly put it down. Of course I knew the basic plot - that the two would get married! - but had entirely forgotten all the details. I hadn’t even remembered the crisis at the start of the wedding, why it happened, or how it was resolved. Nor had I recalled the amusing scene when they finally arrive at their honeymoon destination - or the warm, relaxing ending.

Although technically a stand-alone book, ‘A Common Life’ wouldn’t really make much sense to anyone who has not previously come across the Mitford series. It makes the most sense to read it as the third in the series, since the fourth book begins after the two are married and home from their honeymoon. Each novel builds on characters and subplots that were introduced or expanded in earlier books - and there are so many different people that it’s sometimes confusing enough remembering who was whom even when familiar with the books.

So if this book sounds appealing, please start with ‘At Home at Mitford’, and then read ‘A Light in the Window’ before this one. And note that since it features a minister, there’s some low-key Christian content. Tim and Cynthia pray together in an informal way, and there are Scripture quotations thrown in here and there - all in a very non-preachy, natural way, but if you don’t like anything with ‘religious’ undertones, this series isn’t for you.

With those provisos, I would recommend ‘A Common Life’ very highly if you like warm, gentle village-style fiction. And ignore the fact that it's publicised as book 6 in the Mitford series. It was written sixth, but should be read as the third.

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