For one weekend only, hundreds of devoted readers gathered in Hudson, North Carolina, to celebrate Mitford, a fictional place with a real sense of community. Jan Karon, the 88-year-old author behind Mitford, has written 15 books about the make-believe mountain village.

Asked how to describe the town of Mitford, Karon said it is "a place my readers can go and not be afraid. It's a place of refuge. It's where they can go, get a deep breath."

The humanity of Karon's characters has found a faithful following that's perennially put her novels on the bestseller list. But for some people, she's not a household name like other bestselling authors. Asked why, Karon said, "I don't give you much of a ride. I just give you sort of a float! A lot of people tell me that my books put them to sleep, and

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