These High, Green Hills is the third novel in the Mitford series, which includes At Home in Mitford (1994; see separate entry), A Light in the Window (1995; see separate entry), and Out to Canaan (1997). A fifth Mitford novel is in progress. Father Timothy Kavanaugh, rector of Our Lord's Chapel Episcopal Church, is the protagonist of all books in the Mitford series.

Cynthia Coppersmith, his love interest, and Dooley Barlowe, a foster child, are important secondary characters. The setting of the series is Mitford, North Carolina, a fictitious community, where love, laughter, and faith strengthen its citizens as they overcome adversity.