"This book was previously published in 2004 under the title The apprenticeship of Doctor Laverty, by Insomniac Press, Toronto"--T.p. verso.

Bilbury Chronicles is the first of a series of books (all available on Amazon as Ebooks) describing the adventures (and misadventures) of a young doctor who enters general practice as an assistant to an elderly and rather eccentric doctor in Devon, England. When he arrives in Bilbury, a small village on the edge of Exmoor where central heating is a log fire in the middle of the room and where doors are never locked, the young doctor doesn't realise how much he has to learn. But he soon finds the extent of his ignorance when he meets his patients. There is Anne Thwaites who gives birth in the middle of a field and local rogue Thumper Robinson who knows a good many tricks that aren't in any textbooks. And there is Mike Trickle, a TV show host, who causes great excitement when he buys a house in the village. The young doctor's employer is elderly Dr Brownlow who lives in a house that looks like a castle, drives an old Rolls Royce and patches his stethoscope with a bicycle inner tube repair kit. The local pub, the Duck and Puddle, is run by Frank, the inebriate landlord, and the village shop is run by Peter who also drives the local taxi, delivers the mail and acts as the local undertaker. There is Miss Johnson, the receptionist with a look that can curdle milk; Mrs Wilson, the buxom district nurse and Len, her husband who is the local policeman with an embarrassing secret. And there is Patsy.The author of the Bilbury series of books, Dr Vernon Coleman, is a qualified doctor who has written over 100 books which have sold more than two million copies in hardback and paperback in the UK and been translated into 24 languages. Many of his books have been bestsellers. His novel Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War has been turned into an award winning movie and his medical books include Bodypower and How To Stop Your Doctor Killing You - both of which have been huge international bestsellers. Dr Coleman has written columns for many of the world's leading newspapers and magazines and has presented hundreds of television and radio programmes.What the papers say about Vernon Coleman and his books: The tales he tells are truly uplifting and thought-provoking. They are a breath of fresh air in a troubled world and are also very amusing. The tale of the village cricket match in Bilbury Revels is the funniest thing I have ever read. Be warned -don't attempt to read it in a public place. - People's FriendVernon Coleman writes brilliant books - The Good Book GuideTruthful, well observed and consistently readable - Daily TelegraphHis dry humour transforms doctor-patient encounters into hilarious anecdotes - Publishers WeeklyMost of his adventures are funny, some hilarious; but he has the good sense to leaven the comedy with some that are sad, some touching. All are written lightly, easily, entertainingly. We could do with some more. - Oxford TimesHe has succeeded in writing a book that will entertain, a book that will entertain and warm the cockles of tired old hearts. - PunchThe funniest book I have read since Three Men in a Boat - Chronicle and EchoColeman is a very funny writer - This EnglandHis powers of observation combine with his penchant for brilliant word pictures to create a most delightful book that will appeal to all those who appreciate humour and sharp characterisation. - Sunday IndependentNo thinking person can ignore him - The EcologistSuperstar - Independent on SundayBrilliant - The PeopleThe calmest voice of reason - The ObserverCompulsive reading - The GuardianHis message is important - The EconomistThe man is a national treasure - What doctors don't tell youHis advice is optimistic and enthusiastic - British Medical JournalRevered guru of medicine - Nursing TimesMarvellously succinct, refreshingly sensible - The SpectatorProbably one of the most brilliant alive today - Irish TimesHe writes lucidly and wittily - Good HousekeepingBritain's leading health care campaigner - The Su

This is the first of a series describing the adventures (and misadventures) of a young doctor, who enters general practice as assistant to an elderly and rather eccentric GP in North Devon. When he arrives in Bilbury, a village on the edge of Exmoor, he has no idea how much he has to learn.

Discover how Dr. O'Reilly began his medical career in the tenements of Dublin in Patrick Taylor's New York Times bestselling series. Fans of Taylor's bestselling Irish Country novels know Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly as the irascible senior partner of a general practice in the colourful Irish village of Ballybucklebo. Newly married to his long-lost sweetheart, he's ready to settle into domestic bliss, but there's always something requiring his attention, be it a riding accident, a difficult patient with a worrisome heart condition, a spot of grouse-hunting, or even some tricky shenanigans at the local dog races. The everyday complications of village life are very different from the challenges Fingal faced nearly thirty years earlier, when, fresh out of medical school, the young Dr. O'Reilly accepts a post at the Aungier Street Dispensary, tending to the impoverished denizens of Dublin's tenement slums. Yet even as he tries to make a difference, Fingal's tireless devotion to his patients may cost him his own true love. . . . Shifting back and forth between the present and the past, Patrick Taylor's captivating Fingal O'Reilly brings to life both the green young man O'Reilly once was and the canny village doctor readers have come to know and admire. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Patrick Taylor's devoted readers know Doctor Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly as a pugnacious general practitioner in the quaint Irish village of Ballybucklebo. Now Taylor turns back the clock to give us a portrait of the young Fingal—and show us the pivotal events that shaped the man he would become. In the 1930s, fresh from a stint in the Royal Navy Reserve, and against the wishes of his disapproving father, Fingal O'Reilly goes to Dublin to study medicine. Fingal and his fellow aspiring doctors face the arduous demands of Trinity College and Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital. The hours are long and the cases challenging, but Fingal manages to find time to box and play rugby—and to romance a fetching, gray-eyed nurse named Kitty O'Hallorhan. Dublin is a city of slums and tenements, where brutal poverty breeds diseases that the limited medical knowledge of the time is often ill-equipped to handle. His teachers warn Fingal not to become too attached to his patients, but can he truly harden himself to the suffering he sees all around him—or can he find a way to care for his patients without breaking his heart? A Dublin Student Doctor is a moving, deeply human story that will touch longtime fans as well as readers who are meeting Doctor Fingal O'Reilly for the very first time. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The second novel in the Bilbury series finds the newly-wed young doctor moving into his first real home, Bilbury Grange. With huge repair bills, the doctor and Patsy must look for additional ways to make ends meet. Meanwhile, rumours abound that a property developer has designs on the village.

A heartwarming tale of yuletide merriment by the New York Times bestselling author of An Irish Country Doctor