An Irish Country Doctor

by: Patrick Taylor

Published by: A Tom Doherty Associates Book

Reviewed by Andrea Sisco

Like my beloved Miss Read books, Patrick Taylor spins delicious tales of village life in Northern Ireland’s Ballybucklebo. His characters are complex “real” people, not the caricatures we sometimes find in lighter novels. The plot is fun and his prose fluid. An Irish Country Doctor is a delightful page turner.

It’s the 1960s and Dr. Barry Laverty is seeking employment in a place called Ballybucklebo. He’s determined to take a job as the assistant to crusty Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly. There are people who want to do everything “their way”– and then there is O’Reilly and “his way.” Dr. Laverty believes that the older doctor’s methods are antiquated. But while the two doctors don’t see everything the same, a trial period is decided upon.

With this introduction to the two good doctors, the reader is invited to meet some unique characters; some are wonderful, others are a bit nasty, some are pretty eccentric and there are a few that just demand our care and concern. We meet them in the doctor’s waiting room and fall in love with them and the village of Ballybucklebo where the young learn that they don’t know everything. Sometimes a tonic of vitamin B-12 can cure many things, house calls are normal, pregnancies happen, and medical emergencies and misdiagnosis happen and round out this romp through Irish Village life.

Armchair Interviews says: A feel good, must read. An Irish Country Doctor is delightful.

Author’s Web site: http://www.PatrickTaylor.ca