Shirley P. (booknookchick) reviewed on 4/17/2018 + 117 more book reviews

I'm an avid reader that doesn't often pick books from the cozy genre. However, the beautifully-illustrated landscape on the cover and the lure of a story in a small country village in Northern Ireland during the 1960's compelled me to consider this book.

Dr. Laverty, just out of medical school, is moving to the village to consider a position as a physician's assistant to Dr. Fingall O'Reilly, as loudly vocal in the book as he is described by his stature. Even in text, each character has a distinct voice.

There were several things to enjoy about this book.

1) A quick read.
2) Could possibly laugh out loud
3) With their pastoral lifestyle, villagers rely, almost completely, on face-to-face communication.
4) There's time for Drs. O'Reilly and Laverty to tend to the physical complaints from their âsqueaky wheel' patients. What a switch from the pace and lifestyle of the 21st century.
5) The author was a physician for many years making the book more factional than fictional, although the village, Ballybucklebo, does not exist.

Has the author written this book as an underlying political statement by creating fictional Buckleballybo to contrast Ireland's history of conflicts? Perhaps it is.

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