The Apprenticeship of Dr. Laverty

This is James Herriot for humans. Evocative of an earlier, innocent time, this deceptively simple, entertaining, moving story is written with wondrous skill, drawing us into the life of a small Irish village. Set in a general medical practice in the Ulster village of Ballybucklebo in 1964, Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly is a fifty-six-year-old, unmarried country doctor, who runs his one-man office along unorthodox lines. O'Reilly is joined by a wet-behind-the-ears new medical graduate, Dr. Barry Laverty, who is unsure where his future lies. From their initial encounter, when O'Reilly hurls the hapless Seamus Galvin into a bed of rose bushes, to the final chapter wherein Laverty solves his dilemma about whether to join O'Reilly in a permanent position, Taylor explores the often stormy relationship between the two men. Ballybucklebo is full of eccentric village inhabitants, including the Galvin family; Arthur Guinness, O'Reilly's alcoholic black Labrador; Maggie MacCorkle, who suffers from headaches centred two inches above her head; Sonny who lives in an abandoned car and is in love with Maggie but cannot resolve their long-standing, star-crossed romance until he has settled his dispute with Councillor Bishop, Grand Master of the Orange Lodge, property developer and all-around bastard; Mrs. "Kinky" Kincaid, O'Reilly's Cork housekeeper and Patricia Spence, engineering student, proto-feminist and the love of Barry's life. Taylor captures the charm, wit and ribald humour of the Irish countryside and its people. A heart-warming start to a multi-volume cycle set in the sleepy hamlet of Ballybucklebo.

Об авторе (2004)

Patrick Taylor was born in 1941 in Bangor County Down, Northern Ireland. After medical and specialist training in Ulster, he emigrated to Canada in 1970 to pursue a career in academic medicine. He has held appointments at a number of universities and retired in 2001 to write and sail full-time. Now and in the Hour of Our Death is his fourth book of fiction. Taylor lives on Bowen Island, B.C., with his wife, Kate.

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