5 out of 5 Quills A Review of Patrick Taylor’s newest release
‘yer face is as long as a wet Sunday…’
Oh, I’m a big, BIG fan of Patrick Taylor’s work. I never miss buying his latest. What’s not to like….for me, the daughter of a second generation Irishman? In 1998 I spent a month in the west counties of Ireland looking for my paternal roots. My, my! Did I find them! My father’s name still appeared above ‘drapery’ shops in the small villages I traveled to. So, for me, reading Taylor’s series called ‘Country Doctor’ is like return visits to ‘the ole Sod’.
In this newest offering Patrick Taylor seamlessly takes the reader from his early days as a young doctor (newly graduated) practicing in the slums and tenements of Dublin (in the 1930’s), to twenty plus years later where he has been a GP in the tiny village of Ballybucklebo.
If you start out with the first book, An Irish Country Doctor, and continue reading the series, you fast become one of the villagers. You know everyone and everyone knows you. The series is the story of Fingal O’Reilly’s life, his patients, his young doctor proteges, his loves and all the people that make up the village of Ballybucklebo.
The charm of Taylor’s language is unparalleled. “He’s about as deep as a feckin’ frying pan–and twice as dense.” and, “How’s life abusing you?” Bob asked. “It’s good to be off work and heading to play rugby, I can tell you that for free.” Fin replied. and
an old Irish joke about marching to your own drum and being out of step with everyone else; “...the boy was marching in Belfast, and two women are on the side lines watching the parade. One woman says to the another, ‘That’s desperate, so it is. Everybody’s out of step–except our wee Willie.”
Another favorite was, ‘yer face is as long as a wet Sunday…’ and when the barkeeper brings the drinks he says, ‘Gentlemen, your gargle.’
There are so many characters it’s difficult to pick one or two to tell you about. One of my favorites is ‘Kinky’ Kincaid, Fingal’s long time housekeeper and cook. She’s such a character and isn’t shy about getting ‘dear Doctor’ to do as she wants. A real joy, at the end of every book, is a journal entry from Kinky’s perspective and some wonderful recipes from her kitchen.
I’m not about to spoil it for you by going on and on about the story line (as so many reviewers do) because this book ‘ties up’ the story lines of his books that went before it. Suffice it to say that Patrick Taylor has out-done himself again! Highly recommended.
Don’t Miss my Interview with Mr. Taylor on November 5th & 7th. Excerpt: “I’m from the North of Ireland and so all my works are set there and initially I was determined not to use my medical background as a kind of performance enhancing aid but rather delve into the lives of ordinary people in the Ulster Troubles. The result was a collection of short stories. The next step was to try a novel; and again it was non medical. I then tried to get my editor to bind my collected medical humour columns. She said she would—if my name was Garrison Keillor, a polite way of saying, “Who’s ever heard of Pat Taylor?” but she liked the characters. Could I try a novel about them?”
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS! “The Writer’s Corner”
I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview with one once a month . These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Jeffrey Deaver was October’s author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
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