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At Home in Mitford
Combining the stellar script-adaptation skills of award-winning writer Paul McCusker with the best-selling novel by Jan Karon, Radio Theatre’s At Home in Mitford will leave listeners longing for more. Set in the charming village of Mitford, this book will delight listeners as it draws them into the life of Father Tim, an Episcopal rector who finds himself running on empty and longing for change. His bachelor existence is changed and enriched by a lovable cast of characters, including a stray dog, a lonely boy, and a comely neighbor.
Audio CD
First published September 1, 2003
About the author
Paul McCusker
185 books231 followersPaul McCusker is a writer of many different kinds of things. You may know him from Adventures In Odyssey and Focus On The Family Radio Theatre. Or the Father Gilbert Mysteries. Or the Augustine Institute audio dramas Brother Francis: The Barefoot Saint of Assisi and The Trials of Saint Patrick. Or plays like The First Church of Pete's Garage and Catacombs. Or C.S. Lewis projects like The Chronicles of Narnia audio dramas or The Annotated Screwtape Letters. Or the film Beyond The Mask. Or lots of other dramas, novels, scripts and lyrics. He simply can't make up his mind what he likes to write.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 6, 2012
I've run into the attitude that "this is a woman's book". My question, what makes a book only a woman's book? I like it and while it's not one I keep on on my shelf for re-reading, I can recommend it as a wonderful idealized picture of life where the problems are there but don't destroy, where faith is understood as an actual part of life. It gives us a picture of love with work clothes on and I like this book and many of it's sequels (okay the wedding book was too much for me, maybe it is a woman's book. Maybe someone can explain that to me.) :-)
You get the building of a family throughout the series. You share lives where love works and vows are kept...and I'm a sucker for stories with dogs in them. Enjoy.
You get the building of a family throughout the series. You share lives where love works and vows are kept...and I'm a sucker for stories with dogs in them. Enjoy.
August 6, 2007
Thomas Kinkade comes to mind. I need hardly add that this is not a good thing.
July 10, 2015
I love this book and series! This series is definitely a work of fiction. Everything always works out ok and big problems are not burdensome. I noticed a reviewer not liking this book because the Christian life was so easy and problems didn't deeply effect the characters. This is Mayberry......not a real place. I think that may be why I love it as it is a cozy escape. I smiled alot during this book as it does have humor and I teared up a time or two also.
July 9, 2017
We listed to the audio drama as a family while we drove to the beach. It's about 6 hours long and just delightful. Predictable, sweet, and enjoyable for all ages.
March 14, 2017
This is by far the BEST audio book I've ever had the pleasure of listening to for hours! I really wouldn't call it an audio book as much as an audio PLAY! There's not just 1 person attempting several different voices but many voices for many characters that will warm your heart! Wonderful!!! THIS is the whole reason I read the entire Mitford series! I was hooked.
May 29, 2012
This radio drama edition of an old favorite was very well-done. Excellent acting, music, and sound effects. It was fun to re-visit Mitford in a different format and spend some time again with Fr. Tim, Dooley, and especially Barnabas...the dog as big as a Buick!
April 24, 2014
Such a sweet book. Episcopalian priest in a small town.
May 3, 2017
How lovely to listen to this quality production of this wonderful story! The voices for the characters are amazing! I found myself laughing throughout and it brought me to tears as well. I enjoyed the introduction by Jan Karon.
April 2, 2014
My go to book when I need a comfort read.
December 23, 2015
Cute book - first of a series. My mom and sister recommended. Lighthearted "fun" read. Nice when you want an escape from the world going to hell in a hand basket ;)
May 26, 2016
Absolutely loved this book and I want to read the whole Mitford series.
February 7, 2015
Feel good book. Easy living. Stress relief.
January 25, 2024
I enjoyed listening to this dramatized version of At Home in Mitford since I have already read the books and just wanted a little Mitford refresher, but there were several things about it that I really did not like.
Here are my thoughts, positive ones first:
I loved hearing Jan Karon in the introduction and the conclusion!
I loved hearing the actual words from the book spoken by the characters.
I especially loved the voice of Dooley, and the voice of his grandfather was exactly what I thought he would sound like.
I was disappointed in Andrew Gregory's characterization. His southern accent didn't sound Italian.
While I do like Dean Jones' voice, I thought he gave Father Tim too much of a "pulpit voice" all the time and made him seem smug and pretentious, not kind and approachable as he is in the book.
There was at least one place where words were added to what Father Tim actually spoke in the book. One of my favorite conversations in At Home in Mitford is when Father Tim and the travelling salesman part ways. The book says, "He stood at the door for a moment and watched him go. There was so much he hadn't said, so much he'd left out. But the Holy Spirit would fill in the blanks" (166). In the dramatized version, Father Tim fills in the blanks with a to-do list! One might argue that they are good things to do, but I prefer the way Jan Karon wrote it!
In the book, characters unfold and relationships develop over time. In the dramatization, the development is lost and things seem to happen too quickly. When Cynthia asks Timothy to go steady in the book, it is surprising but not jolting as it is in the recording.
The book is so much better than the theater version that I hope no one listens before they read! I'm afraid they won't like Father Tim nearly as much as they will if they meet him in the book or in the recorded book version read by John McDonough.
Here are my thoughts, positive ones first:
I loved hearing Jan Karon in the introduction and the conclusion!
I loved hearing the actual words from the book spoken by the characters.
I especially loved the voice of Dooley, and the voice of his grandfather was exactly what I thought he would sound like.
I was disappointed in Andrew Gregory's characterization. His southern accent didn't sound Italian.
While I do like Dean Jones' voice, I thought he gave Father Tim too much of a "pulpit voice" all the time and made him seem smug and pretentious, not kind and approachable as he is in the book.
There was at least one place where words were added to what Father Tim actually spoke in the book. One of my favorite conversations in At Home in Mitford is when Father Tim and the travelling salesman part ways. The book says, "He stood at the door for a moment and watched him go. There was so much he hadn't said, so much he'd left out. But the Holy Spirit would fill in the blanks" (166). In the dramatized version, Father Tim fills in the blanks with a to-do list! One might argue that they are good things to do, but I prefer the way Jan Karon wrote it!
In the book, characters unfold and relationships develop over time. In the dramatization, the development is lost and things seem to happen too quickly. When Cynthia asks Timothy to go steady in the book, it is surprising but not jolting as it is in the recording.
The book is so much better than the theater version that I hope no one listens before they read! I'm afraid they won't like Father Tim nearly as much as they will if they meet him in the book or in the recorded book version read by John McDonough.
May 26, 2018
This is the best audio dramatization I have ever heard. I could listen to it over and over - it is so very well done as far as the acting and the sound effects. It is a heart-warming story of (mostly good) people (and a big lovable dog) who live in the small community of Mitford. It contains a simple message of how life could be if we would love our neighbors, care for each other in the hard times, and celebrate the good times.
September 15, 2020
This Audio Radio Theater was amazing!!! It was my first introduction to The Mitford Series. I am also reading the book too. But I simply feel in love with this series. I will definitely be reading more.
My only complaint is that I want all the books done to radio theater!! It is such a lovely story about Father Tim and all the lovely people of Mitford. I especially love Miss Sadie and want to know more of her story!
You simply must listen!!
My only complaint is that I want all the books done to radio theater!! It is such a lovely story about Father Tim and all the lovely people of Mitford. I especially love Miss Sadie and want to know more of her story!
You simply must listen!!
July 10, 2017
Gave this audio to Ellie for Christmas and we all enjoyed listening to it earlier this year..krb 7/9/17
January 22, 2024
An utterly delightful story from beginning to end. I must read more books about the people Mitford!
December 13, 2025
I'm not always a fan of adaptations, but this one shines as being so true to the spirit of Mitford - and a great cast!
December 26, 2014
THIS SUMMARY/REVIEW WAS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES AND IS USED ONLY AS A REMINDER OF WHAT THE BOOK WAS ABOUT FOR MY PERSONAL INTEREST. ANY PERSONAL NOTATIONS ARE FOR MY RECOLLECTION ONLY
When I first picked this book up, I was not expecting very much. Indeed, I received the recommendation from the lady who makes my weekly cappuccino and she told me it was a Christian book. As always I am on the lookout for Christian books which are well written.
I will be the first to say that I just didn't understand the book and was tempted twice to put it down. I understood that it was about a character named Father Tim…and I assumed he would be like Hercule Poirot and fall into all sorts of interesting affairs. To be candid, it is about any number of human issues and there are, in fact, a few mysteries thrown in along the way. Still it bothered me why the book didn’t really have much action or plot: in fact it was several days after I finished it that I first began to understand the intention of the book as well as its marvelous subtlety.
In short, this is a story about life in a Western Carolina town. But more than this, it is a story about how people in this town live the faith they have. At first, I found it too simple, too sanitized and too ethereal, but then I came to realize that it wasn’t sanitized in the least, at least not by circumstances. If you can’t live without reading the actual swear words then you will be disappointed. On the other hand, it takes little imagination at all to understand when it happens.
I was bowled over by the simplicity of this book. I marveled, at first, in how each character lived a relatively simple and straight forward life. Most of us have had dreams of a town which is simpler and slower, somehow more meaningful, but it is doubtful that many of us could actually make any sort of transition. When I was reading this, I realized that this town would drive me crazy, but later I realized that the fault for that lay not in the town or is inherent simplicity, but in myself. Though without any intent to preach openly, this book makes its own values very clear indeed. Why do we indeed over-complicate our lives? I have no idea.
Father Tim reads Wordsworth aloud at night and his dog listens. To me this might work for a week, but after that I would want Tennyson, Rilke, Hopkins and Eliot. I know myself well enough that I believe that the big picture of life comes from more information and interpreting that information over and over until we get it right. I look around my study and see books and papers and case files and all sorts of things in a kind of mess. Without a doubt, this mess is indicative of the way in which I look at life. But this book and the entire series, I suppose, looks at life as if you already HAVE the information and the only real trick is accepting the responsibility for using it. I have spent a week pondering the issue, but I still find this revolutionary. Even now I find it difficult to believe that such a lack of sophistication should deliver a message with this kind of power and charm.
As to the writing itself, I have to say that it seems as if the writer stopped every so often and when she picked up again, there were a few things left undone. It is not a serious flaw, but one which I discovered again and again. In addition, when she has conversational dialogue between several people, one must read some passages a few times before you can gather which one is speaking what. Again this is irritating, but not a terrible sin. Still, this woman’s writing is truly inspired, perhaps in several different ways. In truth, I could never have foreseen myself thinking so highly of it until it had a chance to ferment. I am grateful that it did so.
When I first picked this book up, I was not expecting very much. Indeed, I received the recommendation from the lady who makes my weekly cappuccino and she told me it was a Christian book. As always I am on the lookout for Christian books which are well written.
I will be the first to say that I just didn't understand the book and was tempted twice to put it down. I understood that it was about a character named Father Tim…and I assumed he would be like Hercule Poirot and fall into all sorts of interesting affairs. To be candid, it is about any number of human issues and there are, in fact, a few mysteries thrown in along the way. Still it bothered me why the book didn’t really have much action or plot: in fact it was several days after I finished it that I first began to understand the intention of the book as well as its marvelous subtlety.
In short, this is a story about life in a Western Carolina town. But more than this, it is a story about how people in this town live the faith they have. At first, I found it too simple, too sanitized and too ethereal, but then I came to realize that it wasn’t sanitized in the least, at least not by circumstances. If you can’t live without reading the actual swear words then you will be disappointed. On the other hand, it takes little imagination at all to understand when it happens.
I was bowled over by the simplicity of this book. I marveled, at first, in how each character lived a relatively simple and straight forward life. Most of us have had dreams of a town which is simpler and slower, somehow more meaningful, but it is doubtful that many of us could actually make any sort of transition. When I was reading this, I realized that this town would drive me crazy, but later I realized that the fault for that lay not in the town or is inherent simplicity, but in myself. Though without any intent to preach openly, this book makes its own values very clear indeed. Why do we indeed over-complicate our lives? I have no idea.
Father Tim reads Wordsworth aloud at night and his dog listens. To me this might work for a week, but after that I would want Tennyson, Rilke, Hopkins and Eliot. I know myself well enough that I believe that the big picture of life comes from more information and interpreting that information over and over until we get it right. I look around my study and see books and papers and case files and all sorts of things in a kind of mess. Without a doubt, this mess is indicative of the way in which I look at life. But this book and the entire series, I suppose, looks at life as if you already HAVE the information and the only real trick is accepting the responsibility for using it. I have spent a week pondering the issue, but I still find this revolutionary. Even now I find it difficult to believe that such a lack of sophistication should deliver a message with this kind of power and charm.
As to the writing itself, I have to say that it seems as if the writer stopped every so often and when she picked up again, there were a few things left undone. It is not a serious flaw, but one which I discovered again and again. In addition, when she has conversational dialogue between several people, one must read some passages a few times before you can gather which one is speaking what. Again this is irritating, but not a terrible sin. Still, this woman’s writing is truly inspired, perhaps in several different ways. In truth, I could never have foreseen myself thinking so highly of it until it had a chance to ferment. I am grateful that it did so.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 30, 2008
We listened to the audio version, not sure if it was this exact version, but it was a fun listen, dramatized like the old radio shows. My mind was wandering in the beginning, but the kids were paying attention, and then I got into the story and we all really enjoyed it.
February 25, 2011
This was a pretty good read. Life in Mitford is quaint, at times almost too quaint. I really loved getting to know all of the characters. I'll definitely read more in the series to see what happens to the residents of this small town.
March 10, 2008
This book reads very much like Karon read Lake Wobegon Days and decided to rip the whole idea off, except with less panache.
April 16, 2008
Not very exciting, but light-hearted and wholesome.
September 28, 2011
As my roommate informed me, this is a cosy read. No sex or violence. It was a nice meander through a year in a man's life. I probably won't read the rest.
April 29, 2017
I love this book. As you read the story you begin to love the people of Mitford! It's very uplifting and insightful!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews