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"What do you think of authors who keep bringing back the same character, novel after novel? Do you have any favorites? Ellen responds: I grew up with Nancy Drew, so I have a place in my heart for books that return to heroines I already know. There&amp;#039;s something comforting about series such as Jan Karon&amp;#039;s Mitford Years, which keep bringing us back to the same North Carolina village and a rector named Father Tim. Now that Karon has written the final volume in that series, her fans may be wondering where to look next. My suggestion is the Thrush Green and Fairacre series written by &amp;quot;Miss Read,&amp;quot; the pen name for a woman who (back in the 1950s) created these gentle stories about two side-by-side English villages. They make ideal bedtime reading for those who need an antidote to the murder and mayhem in the news. And a recent note from a Nebraska reader reminded me about a series that is really top-notch: Diana Gabaldon&amp;#039;s Outlander novels. The latest in the series, the sixth, is A Breath of Snow and Ashes, published last fall. It features the charismatic James Fraser and his time-traveling wife, Claire, in the midst of the American Revolution. But if you&amp;#039;ve never read Gabaldon, start with Outlander, in which Claire is spun back in time and meets the Scottish warrior who will capture her heart. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a21010/books-recurring-characters-mar06/>