An Irish Country Village

My sister-in-law told me about this book when she was here visiting last month.  She told me that I'd find An Irish Country Village (#167) a delightful read, and she was correct.  This is actually a sequel to An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor and I suppose I should have started with that one, but our library had Village on its St. Patrick's Day related reading display, so I grabbed it.

So much happens in this book that it's hard to believe that the entire novel takes place in a two week time span.  It's 1964 and Barry Laverty. M.D. has just begun working with Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, the General Practitioner for the wee fictional village of Ballybucklebo, Northern Ireland.  Ballybucklebo has not been disturbed much by The Troubles in nearby Bangor and Belfast, but that's not to say there isn't plenty going on here.   Just as Barry begins to feel that the villagers are accepting him as part of O'Reilly's practice, an important patient dies.  Barry missed a critical diagnosis in this hypochondriac patient that O'Reilly catches.  Still, the patient dies suddenly after surgery.  Suddenly, no one coming to the surgery wants to see Barry.  Only O'Reilly will do.  He's just been offered a partnership if he successfully completes a year in Ballybucklebo.  Should he follow his heart and stay, or would it be better for the practice if he leaves?  O'Reilly figures the best way to keep his mind off his own troubles is to keep him working, and work he does, with a wide variety of injuries and illnesses and problem patients.

The relationships between Laverty and O'Reilly, the interaction with their housekeeper "Kinky" Kincaid, and the way both doctors approach their patients are at the heart of this book.  And that's not to say that there isn't a fair amount of romance going on, too. 

1964 doesn't seem that long ago, but in rural Irish society and medicine, it was a different world, one that is long gone now.  Still, it's a wonderful place to visit for a few hours.   If you're a fan of James Herriott and Maeve Binchey, chances are that you'll enjoy An Irish Country Village.