Tuesday, September 21, 2010

An Irish Country Courtship-Patrick Taylor

An Irish Country Courtship
Patrick Taylor
Forge, Sep 28 2010, $25.99
ISBN: 9780765321749

In the mid 1960s in Ballybucklebo, Northern Ireland, Dr. Fingal Flaherty O'Reilly has taken care of the villagers’ health needs for years without much regard for his personal desires. Now he and his beloved Kitty O'Halloran are starting over. However, that blissful reunion leaves O’Reilly’s housekeeper Kinky Kincaid fearing she will be unemployed soon.

At the same the older general practitioner is re-finding love, his junior partner Dr. Barry Laverty is reconsidering becoming a full partner in a few months after a relationship fell apart; in fact he thinks he should just move on and start elsewhere. At the same time that Laverty struggles with what to do, town councilor Bertie Bishop cheats his irate employees.

The latest Ballybucklebo historical tale (see An Irish County Girl) is an engaging look at a rural Northern Ireland village circa 1965. Although the two doctors and their personal relationships are the lead, the fun in this tale is to compare how far women have come in four and a half decades. Leisurely paced, fans of the Irish County saga will enjoy a trip back in time to Northern Ireland.

Harriet Klausner

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