This novel was like a James Herriot book but set in Ireland with stories about a country medical doctor. Barry Laverty, fresh out of medical school, ventures to Ballybucklebo in Northern Ireland to be an assistant to Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, a rural doctor. Dr. O'Reilly's unconventional methods challenge Dr. Laverty, but overtime he realizes their effectiveness with the rural folk. The character development is superb. I thoroughly enjoyed losing myself in this fictional village. I am not highly recommending it because of the warnings below. Concerning the warnings, I wasn't surprised about what I encountered in this novel since we visited Ireland this summer and witnessed how they "talk".
Warnings: swearing, crass humor, abortion is discussed-not performed but O'Reilly says even though he won't do an abortion, it would be better to do it in a medical office than in a back alley (at the time of the novel abortion was illegal), Laverty makes a grab for his girlfriend's chest but nothing progresses, drinking/getting drunk, a predominant man tries to mess around with his house help and makes vulgar comments about a body part, One of the characters also mentions he does not believe in God as he cannot understand how a god could allow suffering.
-Borrowed from the library.
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