What is the author's style in Out to Canaan by Jan Karon?

The point of view is third person. The main character is Father Tim, therefore most of the novel is seen through his eyes. However, the author also moves into the minds of other townspeople from time to time, allowing the reader to see how the townspeople feel about Father Tim and the things that are happening in the town around them. The point of view has some elements of the omniscient point of view, but it is limited in that the point of view tends to have some distance from the characters, allowing them to keep some things private until the author is ready to reveal these things to the reader. For example, Father Tim decides to buy the rectory toward the end of the novel, but the reader does not learn that this is his intention until after the purchase has been made.

The point of view of this novel has some distance from the characters that allows them to keep secrets, but it is still a point of view that allows some intimacy with the character's thoughts and feelings, allowing the reader to care enough about the events of the novel and their affect on the characters to continue reading through to the end. The point of view works well in this novel because it is laid back, like life in a small town tends to be, and because it reveals enough about the characters to make the plot interesting.