An Irish Country Cottage is a charming entry in Patrick Taylor's beloved New York Times and internationally bestselling Irish Country series.
The New Year brings challenges and changes to the colorful Irish village of Ballybucklebo. The Christmas holidays have barely passed before a fire engulfs the humble thatched cottage housing of Donal Donnally and his family. Although the family escapes the blaze more or less unsinged, Donal, his wife, their three small children, and their beloved dog find themselves with nothing left but the clothes on their back.
Good thing Doctors O’Reilly and Laverty are on hand to rally the good people of Ballybucklebo to come to their aid. Rebuilding the cottage won’t be quick or easy, but good neighbors from all walks of life will see to it that the Donallys get back on their feet again, no matter what it takes.
Meanwhile, matters of procreation occupy the doctors and their patients. Young Barry Laverty and his wife Sue, frustrated in their efforts to start a family, turn to modern medicine for answers. O’Reilly must tread carefully as he advises a married patient on how to avoid another dangerous pregnancy.
As a new and tumultuous decade approaches, sectarian division threaten to bring unrest to Ulster, but in Ballybucklebo at least, peace still reigns and neighbors look after neighbors.

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.

Patrick Taylor's profile page

"Patrick Taylor has become probably the most popular Irish-Canadian writer of all time." —The Globe and Mail
“Gentle humor, deeply emotional stories drawn from everyday life.” —Kirkus Reviews on An Irish Doctor in Love and at Sea
"Deeply steeped in Irish country life and meticulous in detail, the story is the perfect companion for a comfy fire and a cup of tea or a pint of bitter. A totally wonderful read!" —Library Journal, starred review, on An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War
"What Herriot did for Yorkshire, Taylor now does for Northern Ireland's County Antrim and County Down, minus the animals, of course, but with all the good sentiments." —Kirkus Reviews on An Irish Country Wedding

An Irish Country Cottage

by SJGirl

The thirteenth book in the series, so obviously this must have it’s fair share of adoring readers, unfortunately, it just wasn’t the right book for me.

A community rallies to help a family displaced by a fire, while one couple deals with infertility, and Ireland deals with religious differences.

This is the first book I’ve read in the series, while I’m sure the reading experience would be enhanced by having all the information of the previous books, it’s easy enough to jump into this one, as despite the large cast of characters, there isn’t an abundance of complex story threads to sort out.

While I admire the willingness to tackle big issues such as religion, infertility, and contraception in the sixties in Ireland, the book didn’t dig as deeply into any of it as I might have preferred.

If you’re interested in the medicine, the author’s knowledge is very evident throughout the story, and while at times I found it informative and interesting, at others it seemed like more than I needed, with fiction, I just find myself craving more of the emotional toll on characters rather than the medical science behind it.

The pacing and plotting of this one frequently felt sleepy, and when it comes to characters less earnest and more flawed likely would have held more appeal for me, but for those very same reasons I could see this series being a something of a comfort read for others.


I received this book through a giveaway.