With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, books, both fiction and nonfiction, are filling displays in bookstores all over country. Though every holiday inspires books, some of the most interesting are related to or devoted to St. Pattie’s Day. The fact that so many Americans claim Irish roots doesn’t hurt sales of these Celtic themed reads.
Although there are a wide range of non-fiction subjects to choose from, including books about Irish architecture, Irish trivia and Irish folklore, there is also an abundance of highly popular novels set in Ireland. One collection in particular, which has kept readers entertained for years, is The Irish Country Books series, by Patrick Taylor.
In his American debut, An Irish Country Doctor, Taylor introduces readers to the conservative young Barry Laverty. Undecided about exactly what kind of medicine he wants to practice, the novice doctor clashes with the unorthodox Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly when he travels to the small eccentric Northern Ireland town of Ballybucklebo in the 1960’s, to work as O’Reilly’s assistant.
An Irish Country Village picks up where the first book in the series leaves off. Barry Laverty is just beginning to settle into his assistantship and is growing to like the odd but colorful little town, when tragedy strikes. The sudden death of a patient threatens to disparage Laverty’s reputation, making it necessary for him to regain the trust of the community, one patient at a time.
In An Irish Country Christmas, young Dr. Laverty is enthusiastically anticipating his first Christmas in the small town of Ballybucklebo, when he gets the disappointing news that he and his girlfriend Patricia may be spending the holiday apart, since she might not be coming home Christmas. However, this is the busy season for doctors, so Barry doesn’t have the luxury of feeling sorry for himself for long. Additionally, the doctors must contend with a patient poaching quack who clearly doesn’t have the best interest of Ballybucklebo’s citizen’s at heart. Despite the stresses, challenges and disappointments Barry faces, he is reminded of the true meaning of Christmas when he and Dr. O’Reilly have the opportunity to play Santa Claus to a struggling single mother and her sick child.
Volumes 1-3 of the Irish Country Books series are available in The Patrick Taylor Boxed Set, in addition to being sold individually.
Other Irish Country books include An Irish Country Girl, An Irish Country Courtship, A Dublin Street Doctor and An Irish Country Wedding
Some information provided by Amazon.
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