Over the years of the Victoria Classics Book Club, our group has grown to encompass thousands of members connected by a love of reading. Below, find discussion questions for past volumes, which can be explored further on our Book Selections page. We also invite you to join the ongoing conversation on our Facebook page, where you will meet a delightful coterie of devoted readers.
Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon
We present Jan Karon’s beautifully penned Shepherds Abiding, featuring an Advent theme and all the usual Mitford characters that we’ve grown to love.
As we look ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas in the months to come, what family or community traditions are you most looking forward to?
In Jan Karon’s Mitford books, Father Tim often offers up his grandmother’s favorite prayer, “Lord, make me a blessing to someone today!” The eighth novel in the series, Shepherds Abiding, offers the beloved rector many opportunities to uplift his Mitford neighbors. Can you share a time when you were a help to someone in need of a kind word or deed? Or perhaps an instance where someone was an unexpected blessing to you?
In the first chapter, the proprietor of the Oxford Antique Shop was unpacking a worse-for-wear creche he’d procured in England. Father Tim was immediately captivated by the “motley assortment of sheep” and other shabby pieces spilling from the box. Though he had always lived “the life of the mind” and never really worked with his hands, he decided to refurbish the entire set himself, spurred on solely by picturing Cynthia’s reaction when he presented it to her. In our November/December 2021 issue, readers tell us about handmade surprises discovered—or placed— under their Christmas trees. Have you ever given or received such a gift?
As Father Tim works on the restoration of the Nativity scene, it sparks a childhood memory of his father and the heirloom creche passed down from his Irish relatives that had pride of place in the Kavanagh home at Yuletide. Whether it’s a serving piece that graces your Thanksgiving table or a keepsake placed upon the Christmas tree, do you have a similarly special inherited item that must make an appearance among your holiday decorations?
This time of year often makes us sentimental, and that was certainly the case with Father Tim. Among his tender recollections was his mother’s favorite holiday confection, bûche de Noël, which young Timothy called “boose Noel.” What are some of your favorite recipes to make at Thanksgiving and Christmas?
Hope Winchester cleared out the attic of the Happy Endings bookstore in anticipation of making it her new home. She placed a lighted evergreen tree in the window—such a simple act, but it caught the attention of many Mitford residents, bringing a shiny touch of the Christmas to the little town. What are some things that ignite the holiday spirit in you?
Mitford is blessed with a white Christmas. Dooley’s siblings build a snowman in their backyard, topping the icy fellow with their stepfather’s yellow hardhat and using a stick for his nose. They can’t wait to show him off to their big brother. Can you share a memory of a white Christmas or an enchanting snow day?
Father Tim remembers a time from his childhood when he decided to re-enact the shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on Christmas Eve. Having been told that animals have the ability to speak on that special night, he half-expected to hear a bit of conversation from the family’s two cows. Though that didn’t happen, he still had a meaningful experience when his father accompanied him on his stroll outside. Can you share a special memory from a Christmas Eve when you were a child?
Find Victoria Classics Book Club resources—including discussion questions, companion materials, and a reader forum—at Victorimag.com!