The residents, staff, and neighbors of the Pine Haven retirement center (from twelve-year-old Abby to eighty-five-year-old Sadie) share some of life's most profound discoveries. What they eventually learn about themselves and one another will transform them all.

Sometimes even Miss Julia wants to hide under the covers. Her husband, Sam, wants them to attend marriage enrichment classes. Even worse, the psychologist leading the sessions is Fred Fowler, a man she could go forever without seeing again and would rather not introduce to Sam. But Miss Julia can't stay hidden for long. Someone has knocked Francie Pitts in the head and put her in the hospital. Francie didn't see her attacker, but she recognized their...

In the course of this wide-ranging, richly detailed novel, every kind of human problem finds its way to the doorstep of Quee Purdy, a tireless entrepreneur for whom love and sex are the "hot commodities" in which she deals. McCorkle's extraordinary storytelling skills allow her to juggle at least six parallel stories in a novel about playing God. And she does it divinely.

"It's November and Miss Julia is looking forward to some quiet time before the holidays. That is until snobby Connie Clayborn and her rich husband move to town. At first, Miss Julia and the other ladies are pleased to be invited over for coffee, but the afternoon turns into a slap in the face when their hostess spouts nonstop criticism about Abbotsville. Why, how dare she? Days later, Miss Julia decides to confront Connie woman to woman, but when...

Grieving over his daughter's death and kicked out by his second wife, David starts a private investigation company, moves in with psychic friend Camden, and tackles two cases that may be linked by a notebook of strange musical notation.

Before retired beauty queen and fledgling private investigator Madeline Maclin can make sense of a riddle left in the will of a wealthy old coot, she has the suspicious death of a universally disliked local elementary teacher to solve. Oddly, both cases may be connected to hot new collectible cards that have hooked even her husband.

Jan Karon introduces readers to a small town so lovely and engaging that it's hard to put out of your mind. The town is Mitford, North Carolina, and in these high, green hills the air is pure, the village is charming and the people are 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...