Taylor, Patrick "An Irish Country Doctor" A Tom Doherty Associates Book: 2004
Dr. Barry Laverty, a brand new doctor barely finds Ballybucklebo, Northern Ireland for his interview with the doctor that practices there. He has just graduated from the medical school of the Queen's University of Belfast and has no clear plans on what he wants to do in his medical career. All he wants to do at that point is earn enough to pay off the loan on his beat up Volkswagen. His tale of working with Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly and the people of Ballybucklebo is enough to warm one's heart and soul on any evening. This book is not all sugar and sweet for Dr. Laverty makes mistakes as all new doctors do and he learns to be a seasoned doctor under the mature instruction of Dr. O'Reilly but he learns to be a more balanced human being in the process.
Taylor is a good writer and brings this village and all of the people to life. Being a doctor himself he has the background and knowledge to know what it takes to be a doctor in rural Northern Ireland. Taylor cares about his patients and about the quality of care his patients get. In some books, there are sections one just skims through to get to the parts that matter. Taylor knows how to leave those parts out.
Name of author: Patrick Taylor
Dates of birth : 1941
Place of birth: (brought up in Bangor, Northern Ireland) It is unclear where he was born.
Education: He attended Queens University of Belfast from 1958-1964. Post-graduate training led to his qualifying as an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist in 1969.
Literary movement associated with author:He published more than 100 original research papers and has co-authored six textbooks. He was Editor in Chief of the Journal of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, (JSOGC), 1990 to 1999.
He is a recipient of:
- US International Foundation for Studies in Reproduction; Chairman’s Award 1987.
- Society of Obstetricians and Gyanecologists of Canada; President’s Award 1998
- Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, Lifetime Award of Excellence in Reproductive Medicine 2000
Writing has been an integral part of his life. An early interest in fiction had to take a back seat to scholarly works for 20 years, until he began to find outlets for his less academic endeavours when invited in 1989 to contribute to a monthly humour column, En Passant to the JSOGC. This became bi-monthly in 1990 with TF Baskett completing the work in alternate months.
The sequel, An Irish Country Village, was published in February 2008 and the third in the series, An Irish Country Christmas, will be released in November 2008. All three will be published in Ireland and the UK by Brandon Books, Dingle.
Nationality: Republic of Ireland
Notable award(s) or ideas (s):In 2004, The Apprenticeship of Doctor Laverty (Insomniac Press) appeared and was short listed for a BC Books Fiction Prize. Tom Doherty and Associates of New York bought this work and republished it as An Irish Country Doctor. It achieved New York Times best seller status in both hard back (2007) and trade paper (2008) editions. The hard cover edition was a Book of the Month Club Novel of the Month in March 2007. The trade paper edition also became a Canadian best seller. It is being translated into Dutch, German, and Spanish and has been or will be condensed by Readers Digest in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Brazil, and Finland.
Books and years when published:
An Irish Country Christmas Tom Doherty and Associates NY NY ISBN 13:978-0-7653-2070-4 Barry Laverty is looking forward to his first Christmas in Ballybucklebo. That is until he learns his sweetheart, Patricia Spence may not be coming home from Cambridge. The arrival of a rival practitioner whose brand of quackerey threatens both O'Reilly's practice and the health of the villagers can only add to Barry's worries. But the wintry days are not without their tidings of comfort and joy. Between parties, the kiddies' Christmas Pageant, and their busy practice the two physicians still find time to to play Santa to a struggling single mother with a sick child and no money. Snow is rare in Ulster, and so are miracles, but that doesn't mean they never happen... An Irish Country Village Tom Doherty and Associates NY NY ISBN 13:978-0-7653-1624-0 Young Doctor Barry Laverty has only just begun his assistantship under his eccentric mentor, Doctor Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, but already he feels at home in Ballybucklebo. When the sudden death of a patient casts a cloud over Barry's reputation his chances of establishing himself in the village are endangered, especially as the grieving widow is threatening to sue. He must regain the trust of the villager one patient at a time. Not all the challenges the doctors face are medical.When a greedy developer sets his sights on the Black Swan pub (locally known as the Mucky Duck) it is up to O'Reilly and Laverty to prevent it from being turned into a chrome and plastic tourist trap. An Irish Country Village is an ideal place to visit for wit, warmth, and just touch of blarney. Opinion: Full of stories and vivid characters An Irish Country Village recalls a good night in a pub. Good, light, entertainment. Booklist. Now and in the Hour of Our Death. Running from the sectarian carnage of Northern Ireland Fiona Kavanagh has found sanctuary in the peace of Vancouver. Or so she thinks until she hears of the breakout from the Maze prison in Ulster and that the man she loved,still loves, Davy McCutcheon is among the escapees. From secret IRA meetings in Tyrone, to the claustrophobic world of the inmates of a maximum security prison, to the easy tranquility of Vancouver the story describes with delicate precision and painstaking attention to detail the events that set the escape plan in motion and the fate of one small partry of escapees--including Davy. The novel is a haunting prayer to the lives of those bound by ties of patriotism and the intimate battles we fight to release our hearts from the bonds of love and loyalty Pray for Us Sinners Insomniac Press Toronto. 2000 ISBN1-895837-61-8 Recuperating in hospital from the effects of the detonation of a bomb he was trying to defuse Lieutenant Marcus Richardson wonders how to get out of explosives work with his dignity intact. Major John Smith appears with an answer. A final undercover mission then an appointment to the elite SAS. Moving into the Catholic ghetto of the Falls Road Richardson assumes the identity of a Republican sympathizer with explosives expertise. He is soon introduced to Davy McCutcheon,IRA bomb maker. As Richardson, constantly in danger of exposure and immediate execution,gets to know the other side he finds that conflict in Ulster is not as black and white as it seems. The story reaches its climax in a deserted farmhouse close to a bridge where Davy has planted a bomb to assassinate the British Prime Minister and Marcus must somehow stop Davy. Opinion: Pray for Us Sinners is written with heartfelt urgency to explain Ulster rather than demonize the place and the population. A deeply felt thriller and a very valuable one. John Doyle. Globe and Mail. Only Wounded: Ulster Stories. Key Porter Books Toronto. 1997 ISBN 1-55013-809-X This collection of short stories is set in my native Ulster and paints 16 pictures of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times. It takes no sides, but rather tries to explore the emotions of staunch Loyalists, Committed Republicans and above all Ulsterfolk who wanted nothing more than to be allowed to live in peace. An Irish Country Doctor When in 1964 Doctor Barry Laverty, fresh from training, joins the rural Irish practice of Doctor Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly, he finds that not only is his senior colleague distinctly eccentric, but so is the tiny village of Ballybucklebo and its denizens. In the succeeding month Barry learns a great deal about medicine, life, and love. Awards/distinctions: Short listed for the Ethel Wilson Books in BC fiction award 2005. NY Times best-seller. USA Today best-seller Canadian National Post, Quill and Quire, Vancouver Sun best seller. Book of the Month Club Novel of the Month, March 2007. |
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