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An Irish doctor in love and at sea  Cover Image Book Book

An Irish doctor in love and at sea

Taylor, Patrick (author.).

Summary: Long before Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly came to the colourful Irish villiage of Ballybucklebo, young Surgeon Lieutenany O'Reilly answered the call of duty and served in World War II. As a ship's doctor on the HMS Warspite, he faced danger upon the high seas. With German bombers a constant threat, the future was never more uncertain. Decades later, O'Reilly is content to mend the bodies and souls of his patients, but confronts changes and challenges aplenty. A difficult pregnancy, as well as an old colleague badly in denial, tests O'Reilly' and his young partner, Barry Laverty. But even with all that occupies him in the present, can O'Reilly ever truly let go of the ghosts from his past?

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780765378224 (paperback) :
  • ISBN: 0765378221
  • Physical Description: print
    xvii, 617 pages : maps ; 18 cm
  • Edition: First mass market edition.
  • Publisher: New York : Forge, published by Tom Doherty Associates, 2017.

Content descriptions

General Note:
Includes a preview of An Irish country love story (pages [607]-617).
Subject: Physicians -- Fiction
Veterans -- Fiction
Country life -- Northern Ireland -- Fiction

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at Salt Spring Island Public Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Holdable? Status Due Date
Salt Spring Island Public Library PB FIC TAY (Text) 33123009565681 Paperback fiction Volume hold Available -

  • Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2015 August #2
    Taylor (An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War, 2014, etc.) revisits his beloved Irish medico, Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, as he faces new challenges in his practice and reconciles with World War II demons. The chapters alternate between the mid-1960s in Balleybucklebo and the early 1940s, when O'Reilly left the HMS Warspite for anesthesiology training at the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar in Portsmouth. Living ashore provides O'Reilly an opportunity to marry his fiancee, Deirdre. Taylor is superb on how characters live, work, and love each other, and O'Reilly's deep feeling for Deirdre anchors the tale. Humor and pathos reign as the scene shifts to 1964. At a medical school class reunion, O'Reilly notices former classmate Ronald Fitzgerald displaying signs of illness, but Fitzgerald angrily rejects his gentle observation. Fitzgerald's a prim, closed-off person, but once his symptoms become critical, he calls O'Reilly, and a friendship blooms. As Balleybucklebo denizens enter, O'Rei lly's associate Barry descends into a funk since his fiancee, Sue, has met a charming French fellow while traveling. The Marquis of Balleybucklebo gets help from O'Reilly's brother Lars in managing estate inheritance taxes. There's plenty of ribald humor—"If your man Edgar Redmond there was at a wake, he'd not be satisfied unless he was the feckin' corpse." The war years show young O'Reilly despairing over the carnage—"the butcher's bill"—yet heroic in his duties, and in the happier 1960s segments, a thread about positive/negative blood types gets technical, but following along with O'Reilly on house calls through the green fields of Northern Ireland is constant good fun, especially when the local scallawag decides his ten mutt puppies are exotic Woolamarroo quokka herding dogs. Gentle humor, deeply emotional stories drawn from everyday life—Taylor's books are what Garrison Keillor might have produced if he'd been born in Country Antrim. Copyright Kirkus 2015 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
  • Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2015 September #2

    Before Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly became the village doctor of Ballybucklebo, Ireland, he was a young surgeon-lieutenant in the British Navy aboard the HMS Warspite, honing his medical skills at the peak of World War II. In this latest addition to Taylor's hugely popular "Irish Country" series (An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War), Dr. O'Reilly and his wife Kitty are enjoying the comfortable life of their quaint Irish village when an event commemorating the war causes O'Reilly to revisit old friends and his days as a young surgeon in wartime. Seamlessly shifting between the two eventful eras of his life, he recalls the excitement of learning his skills, pursuing his first love, Deirdre, and forging ahead during a time of terrifying uncertainty, while facing the present challenges of learning new skills, training novice doctors, and assisting comrades in times of need. Taylor is a master storyteller who meshes past and present with meticulous detail and sumptuous atmosphere. VERDICT This wonderfully fresh story in a great series is full of colorful characters, fascinating history, and charming Irish settings. Fans will be delighted to learn more of O'Reilly's wartime years and catch up with Fingal and Kitty. New readers can step right into their lives and be swept away by remembrances of experiences aboard the HMS Warspite and the love story of Fingal and Deirdre.—Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA

    [Page 72]. (c) Copyright 2015 Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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