An Irish Country Doctor

“Old boy, in this life there will always be a certain amount of shit to be shoveled. I really would urge you to buy a long-handled spade and simply get on with it.”

A perfect heartwarming comfort novel.

A cozy historical novel that follows a young, just-graduated medical student to his first apprenticeship with a general practitioner in Ballybucklebo, Ireland. This is the first book in a series that follows Dr. Barry Laverty in his medical mentorship and the ways of Irish country life in the mid-1960s. I especially liked the detailed descriptions of rural doctoring and diagnosing as practiced during this era.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator did all the accents and pronunciations with a believable Irish voice. I think this made the book more enjoyable for me because I would have stumbled over all the unfamiliar Irish speech and spellings. I'll probably look for the rest in the series in audiobook for this reason.

A sweet, easy read. Feel good novel, over all.