The Covington family's wealth and status in Buffalo hold no appeal for William. His greatest desire is to minister to others. He is delighted, then, when a church in Walnutport, Pennsylvania, call him to be their pastor. Can he ever fill the shoes of Reverend Nelson, who has lovingly served this small canal community for years? Betsy Nelson can hardly accept her father's retirement, but she knows his failing heart demands it. She leaves her life in...

In 1956, toward the end of Rev. John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, an account of himself and his forebears. This is also the tale of wisdom forged during his solitary life and how history lives through generations, pervasively present even when betrayed and forgotten.

Father Timothy Kavanagh is married to more than his lovable and eccentric Episcopal parishioners. He's also married to Cynthia, his vivacious and talented neighbor. Suddenly, the routine existence of a sixtysomething bachelor is out the window. How will they keep his sofa-sized dog at a safe distance from her arrogant, albeit famous, cat? Can he learn to love the old-Italian-villa look his wife is bent on giving the rectory? These concerns pale, however,...

Cedar Cove is shocked after Pastor Dave Flemming is accused of stealing jewelry. His wife, Emily, doesn't know what to believe, especially since Dave is being so evasive. Then she finds an earring in his pocket. Could he have stolen it--or is he having an affair?

"Marilynne Robinson, one of the greatest novelists of our time, returns to the town of Gilead in an unforgettable story of a girlhood lived on the fringes of society in fear, awe, and wonder. Lila, homeless and alone after years of roaming the countryside, steps inside a small-town Iowa church-the only available shelter from the rain-and ignites a romance and a debate that will reshape her life. She becomes the wife of a minister, John Ames, and begins...

"Willa Cather's third novel, The Song of the Lark, depicts the growth of an artist, singer Thea Kronborg, a character inspired by the Swedish-born immigrant and renowned Wagnerian soprano Olive Fremstad. Thea's early life, however, has much in common with Cather's own. Set from 1885 to 1909, the novel traces Thea's long journey from her fictional hometown of Moonstone, Colorado, to her source of inspiration in the Southwest, and to New York and the...

"Two lifelong friends, a bartender and a pastor, decide to trade places the week before Christmas and end up finding love along the way in this delightful novel from the queen of holiday stories, #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber. Peter Armstrong and Hank Colfax are best friends, but their lives couldn't be more different. Peter is a local pastor who is dedicated to his community. He spends his time visiting the flock, attending...

"Barchester Towers concerns the leading clergy of the cathedral city of Barchester. The much loved bishop having died, all expectations are that his son, Archdeacon Grantly, will succeed him. Instead, owing to the passage of the power of patronage to a new Prime Minister, a newcomer, the far more Evangelical Bishop Proudie, gains the see. His wife, Mrs Proudie, exercises an undue influence over the new bishop, making herself as well as the bishop...

Father Tim, Mitford's most eligible bachelor, finds himself in need of divine intervention when his attention becomes focused on his attractive neighbor, while at the same time he is being pursued by a wealthy widow, and his cousin Meg moves into the rectory.

A young priest is bound by his sacred vows to keep a deadly secret that was revealed to him by a man in the confessional, but when the unknown man begins threatening the priest's sister, he is forced to choose whether his vows or his family are more important to him.