An Irish Country Girl (Irish Country, Book 4)

By Patrick Taylor

Book Overview

Readers of Patrick Taylor's books know Mrs. Kinky Kincaid as the unflappable housekeeper who looks after two frequently frazzled town doctors in the colourful Irish village of Ballybucklebo. A trusted... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765320738
• ISBN13: 9780765320735
• Release Date: January 2011
• Publisher: Forge Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

another fine taylor book

This is another in the fine books by patrick taylor. It is more background on one of the characters in his other Irish Country books. It is a charming tale.

The best of the 4!

In the last month or so I have read all of Patrick Taylor's books about Ballybucklebo one after the other on my Kindle. I've enjoyed all of them for the cozy, light reading about a subject I love, Ireland, and the engaging characters. This newest book conveniently became available at just about the time I had finished "An Irish Country Christmas". When I first started to read it, I'll admit I was a bit disappointed to realize that the focus had shifted from the doctors to the housekeeper, Kinky Kinkaid. At first it took me awhile to get into the book because it began so differently than the others I had read so recently, however, this story of Kinky Kinkaid with its characters, settings and supernatural occurrences grew to become my favorite of the four books. I think this book would make a fantastic movie! My only complaint would be over a part in the book where young Maureen (Kinky) is talking to her young love when they are first getting to know each other. Mr. Taylor has the character ask if Maureen is a 'Republican' and she says "no!" and tells him how her father insisted their family would have nothing to do with politics. Then the young man agrees that he has no interest whatsoever either... and this all taking place at around 1925 in County Cork... of all places! I found it a stretch to imagine two people at that time, and especially, in that particular location, would come from families that had no opinion on the War for Independence and the Irish Civil War... and I would expect at least one of them to have Republican sympathies! It was very unrealistic and a bit dismissive of some big issues in Ireland, at that time especially! I get it that Patrick Taylor is from the North and probably didn't want to get into this subject too deeply in this type of book, but then I don't get why he seemed to go to pains to bring it up and then make clear that such a volatile and important current event would be so unimportant to the characters. To me, having the characters bring it up, and then dismiss it showing no Republican fervor or even an opinion... was in itself a political statement.

A glimps of the Irish

As with Patrick Taylor's other books, the reader is transported to another place, another time. It is a comfort to read a book that is written with such warmth. I can tell you that the ghosty part of this book can be quite believable! It's very enjoyable to get to know Kinky so well as the other characters from his previous books.This book is very easy to recommend to friends. Have a listen to the audiobook - the telling of the tale is very vivid.

fun cozy

In Ballybucklebo, Ireland, Kinky Kincaid serves as housekeeper to small village's two doctors (Dr. Barry Laverty and Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly). On Christmas Day, Kinky turns storyteller as she spins a spellbinder to the children with the tale of the St. Stephen's Day ghost. When she was a child the age of her audience, Kinky was known as Maureen O'Hanlon. She had the unique skill of seeing the future. As Kinky tells about dark fairies to enraptured fans, back then Maureen must choose between her heart and her career. The latest Ballybucklebo Irish County cozy (see An Irish Country Christmas, An Irish Country Doctor and An Irish Country Village) is another superb tale with a neat twist as the previous support player housekeeper takes the lead effortlessly. The story line has two key plots one of which is Kinky's past when she had to make up her mind and choose one of two roads and the present when she tells the ghost tale. Fans will relish this terrific twist as Kinky proves to be a superb storyteller as the top banana title lead character. Harriet Klausner