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An Irish Country Doctor
Patrick Taylor
I have to say right off that An Irish Country Doctor is such a fun read and a great introduction to a series. If you are looking for a book to get lost in while sipping a hot cup of tea, then this is the series for you!
I first got interested in the “Irish Country” series written by Patrick Taylor when I saw the latest release, An Irish Country Girl. Now this being a series I cannot start with the last book, so I started with the first book in the series, An Irish Country Doctor.
This novel is set in the small country town of Ballybucklebo in Ireland. The main character, Barry is a new doctor fresh from medical school and is applying for a position as an assistant in a small rural practice with a more experienced doctor, Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly. Dr. O’Reilly has unconventional ways of dealing with the country folk, but as you read on you start to understand better why he approaches his clientel the way he does. Mrs. Kincaid is the house maid and pretty much the right-hand help to the doctor; she takes care of everything, as women often do. The rest of the characters in the novel are delightfully funny and charming and the dialect in the story delivers all the Irish charm necessary to engage the reader.
Now, honestly right from the get-go the young doctor bugged me. He is a bit of a know-it-all and quick to jump to conclusions, but I have a feeling this is what Patrick Taylor wanted his readers to start off thinking. As the character develops he changes quite nicely throughout the novel while learning the hard lessons of being a small country doctor. By the end of the novel I did not dislike him so much, in fact by two-thirds of the way into the book I was actually rooting for him! That being said, I really like the older doctor and his tactics, Dr, Fingal O’Reilly. He is a real kick in the pants and I found myself laughing out loud at some of the things he said or did to the astonishment of Barry.
This novel is a relatively easy read, but so much fun you’ll find you can’t put it down once you start. Very well written and even though there is quite a bit of Irish slang, it didn’t take away from the story at all; the glossary in the back of the book also helped. The characters are very well developed and the ending leaves you wanting to pick up the next book, An Irish Country Village, immediately; a great thing considering it is a series! The afterward by Mrs. Kincaid, including recipes!, is a great touch and should lead very nicely into her character development in the future books and leave the reader interested enough in her story that they will look forward to An Irish Country Girl as much as I am.
An Irish Country Doctor is a great novel to curl up on the couch, knitted blanket wrapped around you, with a steaming hot cup of tea next to you; I chose to drink Mighty Leaf Chamomile with this book. Absolutely, going into my Tea Drinking Readers category! Being a little Irish myself, I found myself immersed in the story and the slang incorporated; I can’t wait to try some of Mrs. Kincaid’s recipes in the backs of the books. I’ll keep you posted on how they turn out; if you’re lucky I may even post pictures of the finished results!
I found once I picked An Irish Country Doctor up I couldn’t put it down. I cannot wait to start the next novel in the series, in fact I’ll probably have the entire series done before the end of the month! the only downfall in reading this series is that the third book is An Irish Country Christmas will have to be read out of season… I highly recommend An Irish Country Doctor, by Patrick Taylor, to anyone looking for a quick, but enjoyable read. Keep your eyes peeled for the next book in line to be reviewed: An Irish Country Village, also by Patrick Taylor.
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