Humour

I am 'reading' the book as an audiobook. I have been reading the series for years now and like other reviewers look forward to the characters. The explanations of the medical jargon seem to get longer. Though I work in the medical field and am very familiar with everything, i understand why for the non-medical reader, explanations are a must. But they turned very long.

My main complaint with this book and the last as well, is the vocalization and socialization of the characters in the 1930s. It does not seem quite right. It appears to me that he used 1960s language, behavior and mentality and transposed them to the 1930s. It is just not quite right.

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Fingal's earlier life and main perspective gives these books a sweetness that I'm really enjoying -- far more than the Barry-centered ones. It's very very good to hear his life story, and the flashbacks work well for keeping the main plot moving along as well. Very nice. ( )

This one read like the end of the series, but I know there are several more, now. I wonder if Patrick Taylor was asked to continue the series because of its popularity? ( )

I am so sad to come to the end of this newest Irish Country books since it appears fans will have to wait at least another year for the newest one in this series.

This novel takes place several weeks after Fingal and Kitty have married and returned from their honeymoon. Unlike in other novels there is not really anything that Fingal needs to involve himself with pertaining to the village. This novel flashes back to after Fingal qualified as a doctor and was working in Dublin while still dating Kitty and present day with him working in the village and adjusting to being a husband again.

I really did love reading about the working conditions for doctors in Dublin and how sad it was to read how the poor coped in tenement housing back then. Also it helped showcase how food and living conditions did impact what diseases the poor had to cope with.

Even though this novel focuses on Fingal we do get to see glimpses of Barry and see how he is liking the OBGYN specialty he decided upon undertaking.

My only complaint (and it is a minor one and not enough for me to lower this a star) is that we really don't get a chance to immerse ourselves in the new character of Jenny (the doctor who took over from Barry). I thought that was a missed opportunity since I would have liked how she thought of Fingal, Kitty, and get to see how she handled being a woman doctor responding to calls on her own. We do get to read and see how the village responded to Jenny and being a woman doctor but I felt since we did not get a third person point of view for her we were only allowed to see how Fingal responded to it.

That said, I really did love this book and hope we may get another novella in between this and the next full length Irish Country books. ( )