IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS, By Jan Karon

This is the most current release by Jan Karon, author of the beloved Mitford Series books.  After completing the Mitford books, Karon began the new "Father Tim" series.  This one is the second of those books  ("Home to Holly Springs" is the first)

If you've read my past reviews on Karon's previous books, I'm sure you know that I was  excited to see this book at the store. Couldn't wait to read it! I'm sad to say,  it was a huge disappointment.  In fact, I couldn't wait for it to end.

As the story begins, Father Tim and wife Cynthia have arrived in Ireland, for the trip of a lifetime that he'd been promising her for years.   They arrive at a Bed & Breakfast,  where we read about what they ate, what they wore, what the dog did, how many swans were in the lake...it seemed that for most of the book, it was one dull detail after another.   Cynthia had hurt her ankle, so they were stuck at the Inn for most of the time.  It was over 100 pages into the story before anything of note happened.  Additionally, since the dialog was written in an Irish accent, it was very difficult to understand what was being said between characters. 

Tim and Cynthia discover and old journal at the lodge, and spent a lot of time reading it, since they cant do much else because of her ankle injury.  Long passages from that journal are written out for us, and wouldn't you know it, the journal is also full of dull details!   

Toward the end,  a little drama starts happening, but since we're about 3/4 of the way into the book, its hard to really care.  I felt no connection with the characters at all, in fact, it was hard to keep them all straight!  There was the family that ran the Inn, and the additional staff, the guests, and the rest of the family and staff at a nearby home - not to mention all the people that were written about in the journal!  I finally gave up trying to figure out who was who. 

I was determined to finish it, and I did.  But it was difficult.  So disappointed in this one.