An Irish Country Girl (2009)

While I really enjoyed the details of Irish myths and bits of Irish history, the story wasn't as strong for the last half as Taylor's other works. ( )

The fourth entry in his Irish Country series, An Irish Country Girl by Patrick Taylor is a little different from the first three. Usually set in the 1960’s, in this volume we step even further back in time to the 1920’s and learn of the girlhood of Maureen Kincaid, housekeeper to the doctors of Ballybucklebo.

On a blustery Christmas day, Mrs. Kincaid invites the children carollers in and tells them a tale of her own young days. At fourteen, she was a farmer’s daughter living in County Cork, and beginning to build dreams for herself. One Christmas she learns that she is developing ‘the sight’ when she has a visitation from the Banshee and is given advance warning about the death of a young neighbour, a young man who was walking out with her sister, and who laughed at the warnings not to cross the dark fairies. After the carollers leave for their own homes, she remembers more about her past, how she met, married, and became the young widow of Paudeen Kincaid.

Told with his usual charm and verbosity, this book explores the mythology of Ireland, the dark fairies, the banshee, even touching up the selkies. Weaving through this tale of magic is the story of a young girl coming to age and taking her first steps to independence. I enjoyed this walk down memory lane, but look forward to getting back to the regular characters and events in the village of Ballybucklebo This series would fall under the category of lighter reading, but I do have to say, I found this entry almost a little too light for my taste. ( )

So this was very different than the other Irish Country books I've read. It is told from Kinky Kincaid's perspective and details her youth and how she became "fey". (Psychic) It's a cozy trip into Irish folklore of which I heretofore knew nothing. It also includes some mouth watering details about her cooking which always make me wander into the kitchen wondering if I have any of the ingredients on hand to make something like she describes. Anyway, it's sweet, and nice but the good doctors literally just walk in the door at the last minute and don't even say a word I guess. I believe it's an important part of my Patrick Taylor collection. Oh, yes, I'm collecting, the covers are quite lovely. They look so nice in my library ( )

I listened to this book and loved the Irish accent of the reader. I was waiting for the story to get to the part about the main character as a girl, but the few chapters about Conner were necessary background to the story, told as a story to young children by Maureen as an older lady. I got more into the story of her romance-she had goals which were not uncommon in that time period, but there were still many that felt a married lady should be at home if the man could earn a living. This came between her and her love, but it turned out okay after Conner found him in a snow storm.
I wasn't too fond of the fact that she made Brussels sprouts for Christmas dinner, but at least I didn't have to eat them. ( )

Kinky Kincaid has lived in the northern Irish village of Ballybucklebo for more than 40 years, working as a housekeeper for two harried doctors. Readers of Patrick Taylor's Irish Country series know little about her childhood and where she grew up ... until now. Kinky reminisces about when she was a young girl named Maureen O'Hanlon - first telling the neighborhood children about the Saint Stephen's Day ghost's initial appearance in the southern county of Cork; and later (as she makes Christmas dinner for the doctors) Kinky recalls her memories of the years growing up from a child into womanhood in that same county.

An Irish Country Girl is not just a coming of age story, but a look deep beneath the lore and magic of Ireland. The novel centers around the belief in fairies, spirits and the mystical Banshee whose eerie wail on a snowy night foretells of a death. Blessed with "the sight" (passed down from her mother), the young Maureen wants to understand her future. She is a dreamer, a determined girl who wants an education to become a teacher as well as a romantic match with the man she grows to love.

Patrick Taylor brings to life a small farming community and its eccentric people, and reveals the life of a young girl growing up in the 1920s in Ireland. Readers unable to stretch their imaginations may find it difficult to fully immerse themselves in this realm of magical realism. But, I found the novel a fun and entertaining read. Taylor's narrative strength is in telling the story through his characters' eyes. At times I felt as though I was sitting rapt in front of a gifted Irish storyteller, waiting for the expected ending to a tale of intrigue.

Taylor has written a light, engrossing novel about storytellers, magic, and Irish lore. He describes the Irish countryside with its rolling green hills and dales, its flocks of sheep, and the unexpected and sudden shifts in weather; then inserts his quirky characters and the "little people" who populate the spaces beneath the blackthorn trees, thereby creating a story which entertains and delights the imagination.

If you have not yet read Taylor's previous books in the series, no worries. This novel can stand on its own. Taylor even includes a helpful glossary of Irish terms and phrases, as well as some of Kinky Kincaid's fabulous recipes at the end of the book.

Recommended to those readers interested in Irish lore and magic, as well as readers who enjoy novels of small town life. ( )