BOOK: An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor, 343 pages

Irish Reading Challenge

It took me a while to get the tone of this book. At first, I thought it would be like the Miss Julia series (Miss Julia Throws a Wedding, Miss Julia Hits the Road), but it wasn't farcical enough. Miss Julia has super broad characters, and often the events become outrageous. That's their charm, since Miss Julia comes off as so prim and proper and she ends up in crazy situations. But Irish Country Doctor isn't like that.

Then I thought the young doctor (Barry) would be more antagonistic to the old doctor (Fingal). That they would be battling the old with the new methods. But no again. Barry is quietly respectful of Fingal, even while disagreeing with him, and Barry is smart enough to realize he has lots to learn. Fingal also sees in Barry a protege, and is smart enough to realize he can learn from the young new doctor. So, Irish Country Doctor isn't like that either.

There are local characters in the book, and it reads more like a LM Montgomery novel set outside Belfast, with the small village, and star crossed lovers, and the lovable main character who finds ways to make it all turn out well in the end. Everyone happy, except the 'bad guy', who gets his comeuppance. So that's what An Irish Country Doctor is like, and  no wonder I enjoyed the book - it reminded me of LM Montgomery and her village stories of interconnected people. And like Montgomery, Taylor keeps writing, so there are more in the series: An Irish Country Village, An Irish Country Christmas, An Irish Country Girl, and An Irish Country Courtship. Lots to look forward to.


also reviewed: beachreader, nan at letters from a hill farm,Nancy Horner (bookfool) reviewed for Estella's Revenge, Lynne at Lynne's Little Corner of the World,