Haigh connects the “Bakerton Stories” in News From Heaven not only to each other, but also to Baker Towers, although I don’t think there’s a recommended order in which to read the books--the references aren’t plot-specific. Several stories revisit members of Baker Towers’ Novak family, both filling in blanks from the earlier stories and exploring what’s become of those people since Haigh last wrote about them. The Novaks also make cameo appearances in stories that center on other Bakerton families--the Lubickis, Wojicks, and descendants of the founding Bakers themselves--and I found it fascinating to explore the relationships among them, viewed through an assortment of perspectives.
The stories in News From Heaven make fewer overt references to Catholicism and immigrant/first-generation culture than Baker Towers does, but those elements still color life in a town whose ups and downs have always gone hand-in-hand with the fortunes of the coal-mining business that built it.
More: http://www.3rsblog.com/2013/02/tlc-book-tour-news-from-heaven-by-jennifer-haigh.html