Nancy G. (ComfyReader) reviewed on 6/18/2010 + 330 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

Somewhere in the 1960's in Ballybucklebo, Ireland, Barry Laverty fresh out of medical school is on his way to apply as the assistant to Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly. Barry is not quite sure if he wants to specialize or just stay with general practice so he decided to get a taste of small town doctoring. Getting lost more then once, Dr. Laverty shows up on Dr. O'Reilly's doorstep just as a patient, or customer as O'Reilly refers to them as, is bodily chucked of the office into garden.

Apparently, this is not the type of medicine that Barry has been trained in, but after a rather interesting interview with the good doctor, Barry decided to stay a bit and between the new medicine that Dr. Laverty knows, and the small town country doctoring that Dr. O'Reilly knows, the two set off to tend to the good people of Ballybucklebo. Even if that does mean that they butt heads on a daily basis.

There is learning for all of us in this book about not judging before you know and just because a person is gruff and intimidating on the outside does not mean that there is not a heart of gold under it all. In addition, and most importantly, just because you learned it at a university does not mean that it applies in real life.

The book is full of memorable characters, from the town drunk to the big man who owns half the town and lords it over the rest, to the local odd-ball with cats, and Kinky the housekeeper who makes sure the doctors eat, Patrick Taylor brings a voice to each of them and with their antics you are definitely turning pages and chuckling all the way.

I highly recommend this book and hopefully the rest of this series.

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