Jan Karon

Jan Karon (born March 14, 1937) is an acclaimed American novelist and former advertising executive whose heartwarming, faith-infused fiction has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. Raised in the foothills of Hudson, North Carolina, she built a highly successful 25-year career as an award-winning creative director in Charlotte and San Francisco before taking a bold leap to follow her childhood dream of writing books. Moving to the mountain village of Blowing Rock, she began publishing the gentle stories of Episcopal priest Father Tim Kavanagh in weekly installments in the local newspaper, The Blowing Rocket. This experiment became her 1994 breakout debut novel, At Home in Mitford, launching her #1 New York Times bestselling Mitford series. Renowned for providing a "place of refuge" through ordinary, lovable characters and a comforting depiction of small-town life, her extensive bibliography has grown to 25 books, including beloved children's titles and Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader. Her monumental literary legacy is permanently celebrated at The Mitford Museum & Discovery Center in North Carolina, and she recently expanded her 15-novel Mitford saga with her highly anticipated, deeply personal release, My Beloved—a moving novel centered on a lost love letter that she dedicated to her late daughter, Candace.