These High, Green Hills is a characterdriven book in which the characters' actions are important because of who they are. They face moral dilemmas with no clear answers. By the end of the book, they make decisions that will change their lives. In her characters, Karon tries to emphasize the goodness of the human spirit.

Because character development is more important than fast action, These High, Green Hills moves forward in short episodes, rather like a daily log, or diary.

Twenty-one chapters are subdivided into short segments that skip from one event to another, as Father Tim interacts with other characters.

Karon writes in the third person, with her point of view filtered through the heart and mind of Father Timothy Kavanaugh, rector of Our Lord's Chapel in Mitford, North Carolina. In These High, Green Hills, she resolves his inner conflicts by showing how forgiveness brings freedom and...