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Pat of Silver Bush #2
Mistress Pat
This early work by Lucy Maud Montgomery was originally published in 1935 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'Mistress Pat' is a tale in the 'Pat of Silver Bush' series and follows the life of Pat as she grows into a woman. Lucy Maud Montgomery was born on 30th November 1874, New London, in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. Her mother, Clara Woolner (Macneil), died before Lucy reached the age of two and so she was raised by her maternal grandparents in a family of wealthy Scottish immigrants. In 1908 Montgomery produced her first full-length novel, titled 'Anne of Green Gables'. It was an instant success, and following it up with several sequels, Montgomery became a regular on the best-seller list and an international household name. Montgomery died in Toronto on 24th April 1942.
257 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1935
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4029 people want to read
About the author
L.M. Montgomery
1,861 books13.2k followersLucy Maud Montgomery was a Canadian author, best known for a series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908.
Montgomery was born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Nov. 30, 1874. She came to live at Leaskdale, north of Uxbridge Ontario, after her wedding with Rev. Ewen Macdonald on July 11, 1911. She had three children and wrote close to a dozen books while she was living in the Leaskdale Manse before the family moved to Norval, Ontario in 1926. She died in Toronto April 24, 1942 and was buried at Cavendish, Prince Edward Island.
Montgomery was born at Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Nov. 30, 1874. She came to live at Leaskdale, north of Uxbridge Ontario, after her wedding with Rev. Ewen Macdonald on July 11, 1911. She had three children and wrote close to a dozen books while she was living in the Leaskdale Manse before the family moved to Norval, Ontario in 1926. She died in Toronto April 24, 1942 and was buried at Cavendish, Prince Edward Island.
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July 19, 2012
Like its predecessor, Mistress Pat takes a little getting into, mostly because Hilary Gordon is away. The reader must unfortunately spend quite a bit of time missing his presence in the story, and the very structure of the book makes it obvious that Pat will continue her blindness for an absurdly long time.
Fortunately, Judy Plum has not gone anywhere, and her lively presence at Silver Bush receives the additional spark provided by a foil: one Josiah Tillytuck, whose tall tales and cornball personality fit right into Judy's kitchen and bring out the more fiery sides of her personality. Between the two of them and Cuddles, I laughed aloud several times reading this book—which was bad form, considering that it was after midnight and my husband was asleep beside me.
Cuddles, Pat's sister Rae, gives sweet and domestic Pat someone to play mother to a bit. The relationship between the sisters is one of the sweetest parts of this story, and as a big sister myself, I could not but love and sympathize with nearly everything about the way they interacted.
In spite of her one stupidity, Pat spends a fair portion of this book reasonably happy. Her closeness to Judy has matured into something truly beautiful, she has Rae to watch over and protect, her joys and sorrows are mostly deeper than in the previous book, and she throws herself into care of the home she loves. Silver Bush, with its old graveyard and generations of history, its trees and gardens and innumerable little beauties, as well as the nearby little spot that Pat and Hilary named "Happiness"—Silver Bush is a true home among houses, worthy of the devotion bestowed upon it.
For Pat to understand and repent of her great mistake, however, the story requires some change, some loss—and the changes begin when a certain cat (not Bold-and-bad, but seriously, Bold-and-bad is the best cat name I have ever heard) rises and walks out the door, never to return. One by one, the brightest parts of Pat's life follow suit.
The story dives deeper into misery than even the depressing Emily's Quest, but with this difference: Pat is innocently mistaken where Emily is proud and prone to making very bad assumptions. Pat retains the reader's sympathy better than Emily does. Because of that, her consolations are stronger, the sorrows contain less of bitterness and more of beauty, and the climactic events happen naturally rather than involving baffling character choices and/or supernatural intervention.
I'm not sure I've ever felt closer to a character than I did at the moment Pat stands alone in her blue coat and crinkled red crepe dress, alone with the destruction of the life she'd built up for herself, exhausted and desolate. Montgomery's own unbearable weariness appears there as it never appears in Anne's story. The suffering is overpowering, but it's also very real and comprehensible and exquisitely portrayed.
And then—two words, and Montgomery's final magic begins. The ending is just what it should be: poignant and sweet and filled with that rare, acute, vital hope that keeps life going, for it possesses the strength to rise from ashes.
Fortunately, Judy Plum has not gone anywhere, and her lively presence at Silver Bush receives the additional spark provided by a foil: one Josiah Tillytuck, whose tall tales and cornball personality fit right into Judy's kitchen and bring out the more fiery sides of her personality. Between the two of them and Cuddles, I laughed aloud several times reading this book—which was bad form, considering that it was after midnight and my husband was asleep beside me.
Cuddles, Pat's sister Rae, gives sweet and domestic Pat someone to play mother to a bit. The relationship between the sisters is one of the sweetest parts of this story, and as a big sister myself, I could not but love and sympathize with nearly everything about the way they interacted.
In spite of her one stupidity, Pat spends a fair portion of this book reasonably happy. Her closeness to Judy has matured into something truly beautiful, she has Rae to watch over and protect, her joys and sorrows are mostly deeper than in the previous book, and she throws herself into care of the home she loves. Silver Bush, with its old graveyard and generations of history, its trees and gardens and innumerable little beauties, as well as the nearby little spot that Pat and Hilary named "Happiness"—Silver Bush is a true home among houses, worthy of the devotion bestowed upon it.
For Pat to understand and repent of her great mistake, however, the story requires some change, some loss—and the changes begin when a certain cat (not Bold-and-bad, but seriously, Bold-and-bad is the best cat name I have ever heard) rises and walks out the door, never to return. One by one, the brightest parts of Pat's life follow suit.
The story dives deeper into misery than even the depressing Emily's Quest, but with this difference: Pat is innocently mistaken where Emily is proud and prone to making very bad assumptions. Pat retains the reader's sympathy better than Emily does. Because of that, her consolations are stronger, the sorrows contain less of bitterness and more of beauty, and the climactic events happen naturally rather than involving baffling character choices and/or supernatural intervention.
I'm not sure I've ever felt closer to a character than I did at the moment Pat stands alone in her blue coat and crinkled red crepe dress, alone with the destruction of the life she'd built up for herself, exhausted and desolate. Montgomery's own unbearable weariness appears there as it never appears in Anne's story. The suffering is overpowering, but it's also very real and comprehensible and exquisitely portrayed.
And then—two words, and Montgomery's final magic begins. The ending is just what it should be: poignant and sweet and filled with that rare, acute, vital hope that keeps life going, for it possesses the strength to rise from ashes.
July 21, 2025
یکی دیگر از داستان های مورد علاقه ام از لوسی ماد مونتگمری عزیز و باز هم در جزیره پرنس ادوارد. شخصیت شگفت انگیزه این دو جلد قطعا جودی پلام دوست داشتنی هست.
December 13, 2017
Patricia Gardiner loves nothing in the world as much as she loves Silver Bush. This love is obsessive, restrictive, and detrimental to the relationships she has with family and friends. Eventually, through the power of negative enforcement, she realizes there's a whole wide world beyond the farm. This results in a "happy ever after" that feels more like a transference of obsession.
1. I sound dour but that's because this book really did not rub me the right way. For starters, as much as I loved the idea of a story about the warm homestead that centers the Gardiner clan, the somewhat classist and snotty undertones of the familial reign weren't pleasant. I nearly DNF'd during the chapter about Uncle Tom's lady-friend's visit because the reliance on the woman's weight to cast her as "disgusting" and ~~~obviously not a good match for their Uncle was nasty. And then to celebrate Tom's "close call"! Like he wasn't really just a shallow dick? Like they ALL weren't shallow dicks? (Sure, later, there's a bit of talk about how chatty she was and how overly positive she was and all those traits combined make her ~intolerable or what ever, but her unsuitability is decided LONG before she opens her mouth.)
Also: see the entire section with the Binnies "invading" the house. Absolutely the Binnies have a way of life that is different from the Gardiners and May Binnie-Gardiner is ... not a great person, but she's not a great person because of her actions, not because of her last name. But the way the Gardiners tell it, everything the Binnies do is bad because they are Binnies and they don't do it like the Gardiners. Which is, somehow, an Original Sin or some shit.
It just felt a bit...on the nose, especially in these climes. That attitude of "the things we do are absolutely right and everyone else is flawed and wrong AND DON'T YOU DARE QUESTION IT" just...rings hollow to me at this moment.
2. ALSO, this felt like the grab-bag of Anne plot points. The heroine gets mistakenly informed of her bff-slash-would-be-lover's engagement to a rival and feels pangs! A lovely girl with twin beaus falls in love with an "ugly" suitor who comes out of nowhere! A last moment catastrophe gives the bffs-slash-would-be-lovers a chance to reconcile! The older swain with the friendly sister who the heroine almost marries because her eyes have not been opened bows out! I COULD GO ON.
Like, the moment Rae was like "IDK Bruce and Peter are both good but one has bad ears and the other a bad nose" I was like "JUST WAIT FOR THE MYSTERIOUS AND PROBABLY NOT GOOD LOOKING 3RD PARTY TO SHOW UP AND FIX THIS FOR YOU" and lo, I was right.
It's not a bad thing necessarily, just a distraction from the larger story (the doomed love affair of a woman and a house).
3. I maybe probably should caveat this because I might just be bitter because I didn't come from a family of stories or heirlooms or houses. I never felt that roots-deep connection to a place that signified a glorious childhood and the happiness of a history. So maybe I just didn't 'get' this book the way other readers might.
But then I also think that how the story progresses and climaxes undermines Montgomery's "larger lesson" (if there was even meant to be one). Pat doesn't learn to love the world outside of Silver Bush in spite of Silver Bush; she learns to love the world outside of Silver Bush because Silver Bush is taken from her. Pat never chooses to leave Silver Bush: she considers it as an escape route from a home she no longer owns 100%. Even her "happy ending" with Hilary felt more like the decision of a desperate woman with no other real options open to her.
And, yes, ultimately I know that she does love Jingles and that there is lots of support in the text for her ultimate declaration of love. But that's not really how it all manifests, y'know?
IDK, it didn't work for me and instead of a warm-glowy-feeling ending, I ended up feeling old and bitter and jaded as I put this book into the 'donate' box.
1 star for the story, 1 star for Montgomery's prose.
1. I sound dour but that's because this book really did not rub me the right way. For starters, as much as I loved the idea of a story about the warm homestead that centers the Gardiner clan, the somewhat classist and snotty undertones of the familial reign weren't pleasant. I nearly DNF'd during the chapter about Uncle Tom's lady-friend's visit because the reliance on the woman's weight to cast her as "disgusting" and ~~~obviously not a good match for their Uncle was nasty. And then to celebrate Tom's "close call"! Like he wasn't really just a shallow dick? Like they ALL weren't shallow dicks? (Sure, later, there's a bit of talk about how chatty she was and how overly positive she was and all those traits combined make her ~intolerable or what ever, but her unsuitability is decided LONG before she opens her mouth.)
Also: see the entire section with the Binnies "invading" the house. Absolutely the Binnies have a way of life that is different from the Gardiners and May Binnie-Gardiner is ... not a great person, but she's not a great person because of her actions, not because of her last name. But the way the Gardiners tell it, everything the Binnies do is bad because they are Binnies and they don't do it like the Gardiners. Which is, somehow, an Original Sin or some shit.
It just felt a bit...on the nose, especially in these climes. That attitude of "the things we do are absolutely right and everyone else is flawed and wrong AND DON'T YOU DARE QUESTION IT" just...rings hollow to me at this moment.
2. ALSO, this felt like the grab-bag of Anne plot points. The heroine gets mistakenly informed of her bff-slash-would-be-lover's engagement to a rival and feels pangs! A lovely girl with twin beaus falls in love with an "ugly" suitor who comes out of nowhere! A last moment catastrophe gives the bffs-slash-would-be-lovers a chance to reconcile! The older swain with the friendly sister who the heroine almost marries because her eyes have not been opened bows out! I COULD GO ON.
Like, the moment Rae was like "IDK Bruce and Peter are both good but one has bad ears and the other a bad nose" I was like "JUST WAIT FOR THE MYSTERIOUS AND PROBABLY NOT GOOD LOOKING 3RD PARTY TO SHOW UP AND FIX THIS FOR YOU" and lo, I was right.
It's not a bad thing necessarily, just a distraction from the larger story (the doomed love affair of a woman and a house).
3. I maybe probably should caveat this because I might just be bitter because I didn't come from a family of stories or heirlooms or houses. I never felt that roots-deep connection to a place that signified a glorious childhood and the happiness of a history. So maybe I just didn't 'get' this book the way other readers might.
But then I also think that how the story progresses and climaxes undermines Montgomery's "larger lesson" (if there was even meant to be one). Pat doesn't learn to love the world outside of Silver Bush in spite of Silver Bush; she learns to love the world outside of Silver Bush because Silver Bush is taken from her. Pat never chooses to leave Silver Bush: she considers it as an escape route from a home she no longer owns 100%. Even her "happy ending" with Hilary felt more like the decision of a desperate woman with no other real options open to her.
And, yes, ultimately I know that she does love Jingles and that there is lots of support in the text for her ultimate declaration of love. But that's not really how it all manifests, y'know?
IDK, it didn't work for me and instead of a warm-glowy-feeling ending, I ended up feeling old and bitter and jaded as I put this book into the 'donate' box.
1 star for the story, 1 star for Montgomery's prose.
August 8, 2025
احساس کرم ابریشمی را دارم که پیش از پروانه شدن پا رویش گذاشتهاند જ⁀➴ꨄ︎
February 13, 2020
Now while I was not really expecting to all that much love L.M. Montgomery's Mistress Pat (considering that I have found Pat of Silver Bush and especially Pat Gardiner's resistance to any and all change rather frustratingly trying), I was still hoping that perhaps in the sequel, that perhaps in Mistress Pat, Pat would at least mature enough to actively and willingly fight against her often almost pathological resistance to change and that her love for her home, for Silver Bush, would also and hopefully even become just a trifle less obsessive.
But sadly, I have found Mistress Pat a very much personally annoying reading experience and as such also considerably more exasperating than Pat of Silver Bush ever could be or has been. For while in Pat of Silver Bush, L.M. Montgomery's descriptions of Silver Bush, of the beauty of Prince Edward Island (and her depictions and descriptions of the Gardiner family and Pat herself) are interesting, feel emotionally poignant and do paint an engaging enough portrait (even if Pat's resistance to change is often grating and irksome), much of that same sense of magic (which also kind of saved Pat of Silver Bush for me and still managed to turn it into a three star read) is missing from Mistress Pat. And this lack of narrative delight with resulting feelings of personal discomfort whilst reading Mistress Pat often if not even generally and primarily results from the rather annoying fact and truth of the matter that in my opinion, Pat Gardiner (instead of learning to accept change and to become a bit less obsessive about Silver Bush and her family as she matures past the age of twenty) is actually depicted by L.M. Montgomery as being even more strongly resistant to change in Mistress Pat and that she also tends to often show and present a painfully problematic arrogance regarding her family and her family home that I for one have found hard to endure and problematic to accept, with especially the nastiness that Pat Gardiner and the rest of the clan mete out against Uncle Tom's love interest simply because she is a bit plump (including Uncle Tom himself I must say, once he becomes aware of the fact that his erstwhile flame Merle Merridew has gained a bit of weight) making me cringe and growl with anger. And indeed, since LM. Montgomery herself also seems to consider the fat shaming of poor Merle Merridew within the pages of Mistress Pat as somehow acceptable and that of course the latter can because of her body weight issues therefore never be a true member of the Gardiner family, this does rather make me see red so to speak and is also making me consider the Gardiner family, including Pat, as rather annoyingly shallow, opinionated and arrogantly full of themselves (not to mention that while I do not particularly like the Binnie family and especially May Binnie as literary characters, as individuals in the Pat of Silver Bush series, in Mistress Pat I was actually in the end appreciating May Binnie even a trifle more than Pat Gardiner and simply because of Pat's annoying arrogance and her superior airs and graces regarding her home and her family and that somehow May Binnie seems to actually often be presented in Mistress Pat as somehow being the root of all evil and the instigator of all potential problems).
And while I guess I am glad that at the end of Mistress Pat, Pat Gardiner finally accepts Hilary Gordon and they are engaged to be married, considering how long she has actively snubbed poor Jingle and mostly simply because she did not want to change their friendship into something deeper (that Pat's resistance to change also meant rejecting Hilary and almost marrying David Kirk instead), personally, I almost tend to think that Pat does not really all that much deserve to be Hilary's bride. For one, it has taken Pat Gardiner (in my opinion) far too long to accept that she really loves Hilary and that she needs to give up her attachment to them only being good friends and not potential lovers. And for two (and more importantly), I also kind of do wonder whether if Judy Plum had not died, if Sid had not married May Binnie and especially if in the eleventh year of Mistress Pat, Silver Bush had not been lost in that dreadful fire, whether Pat Gardiner would actually have said "yes" to Hilary's final marriage proposal (for sorry, but with Pat's fear of change and her obsessive love for Silver Bush, I do kind of have to question if she really deep down inside of herself chooses to accept Hilary's hand in marriage more because she really has no other choice and option now that her home is gone and lost forever, that if Silver Bush had not been burned to ashes, I kind of do doubt that Pat Gardiner would ever have accepted Hilary, that she would likely be choosing Silver Bush over him if Silver Bush were still in existence and Pat's home).
But sadly, I have found Mistress Pat a very much personally annoying reading experience and as such also considerably more exasperating than Pat of Silver Bush ever could be or has been. For while in Pat of Silver Bush, L.M. Montgomery's descriptions of Silver Bush, of the beauty of Prince Edward Island (and her depictions and descriptions of the Gardiner family and Pat herself) are interesting, feel emotionally poignant and do paint an engaging enough portrait (even if Pat's resistance to change is often grating and irksome), much of that same sense of magic (which also kind of saved Pat of Silver Bush for me and still managed to turn it into a three star read) is missing from Mistress Pat. And this lack of narrative delight with resulting feelings of personal discomfort whilst reading Mistress Pat often if not even generally and primarily results from the rather annoying fact and truth of the matter that in my opinion, Pat Gardiner (instead of learning to accept change and to become a bit less obsessive about Silver Bush and her family as she matures past the age of twenty) is actually depicted by L.M. Montgomery as being even more strongly resistant to change in Mistress Pat and that she also tends to often show and present a painfully problematic arrogance regarding her family and her family home that I for one have found hard to endure and problematic to accept, with especially the nastiness that Pat Gardiner and the rest of the clan mete out against Uncle Tom's love interest simply because she is a bit plump (including Uncle Tom himself I must say, once he becomes aware of the fact that his erstwhile flame Merle Merridew has gained a bit of weight) making me cringe and growl with anger. And indeed, since LM. Montgomery herself also seems to consider the fat shaming of poor Merle Merridew within the pages of Mistress Pat as somehow acceptable and that of course the latter can because of her body weight issues therefore never be a true member of the Gardiner family, this does rather make me see red so to speak and is also making me consider the Gardiner family, including Pat, as rather annoyingly shallow, opinionated and arrogantly full of themselves (not to mention that while I do not particularly like the Binnie family and especially May Binnie as literary characters, as individuals in the Pat of Silver Bush series, in Mistress Pat I was actually in the end appreciating May Binnie even a trifle more than Pat Gardiner and simply because of Pat's annoying arrogance and her superior airs and graces regarding her home and her family and that somehow May Binnie seems to actually often be presented in Mistress Pat as somehow being the root of all evil and the instigator of all potential problems).
And while I guess I am glad that at the end of Mistress Pat, Pat Gardiner finally accepts Hilary Gordon and they are engaged to be married, considering how long she has actively snubbed poor Jingle and mostly simply because she did not want to change their friendship into something deeper (that Pat's resistance to change also meant rejecting Hilary and almost marrying David Kirk instead), personally, I almost tend to think that Pat does not really all that much deserve to be Hilary's bride. For one, it has taken Pat Gardiner (in my opinion) far too long to accept that she really loves Hilary and that she needs to give up her attachment to them only being good friends and not potential lovers. And for two (and more importantly), I also kind of do wonder whether if Judy Plum had not died, if Sid had not married May Binnie and especially if in the eleventh year of Mistress Pat, Silver Bush had not been lost in that dreadful fire, whether Pat Gardiner would actually have said "yes" to Hilary's final marriage proposal (for sorry, but with Pat's fear of change and her obsessive love for Silver Bush, I do kind of have to question if she really deep down inside of herself chooses to accept Hilary's hand in marriage more because she really has no other choice and option now that her home is gone and lost forever, that if Silver Bush had not been burned to ashes, I kind of do doubt that Pat Gardiner would ever have accepted Hilary, that she would likely be choosing Silver Bush over him if Silver Bush were still in existence and Pat's home).
August 31, 2025
August 2025 reread:
Every word of this book feeds my soul, and I have never been so reluctant to finish it and leave Silver Bush behind until the next reread. I am home at Silver Bush. I despair with Pat when detestable May Bonnie comes to live there yet thrill at the way Pat, Judy, and Rae endure her and refuse to let her ruin their lives. Despite Pat's aversion to change she manages, along with Judy, to find the beauty and humor in everything. That is a characteristic I wish I better emulated. And dear Hilary is at last rewarded for his patience. Even though I understand complaints I have read about this book, for me it is faultless in beauty, hope, and warmth.
***
2021 reread:
I love this one more each time I read it. It is as of now one of my very favorite LMM books. Hilary, despite not having too many lines or scenes, is my favorite LMM hero. Interestingly, I feel that David Kirk has less personality this time, while I notice mother more. Yes, she is an archetype of a gentle, gracious mother, but somehow she has a strong presence on this reread. That is a large part of why I reread--aspects of a book stand out and affect me differently each time I read it, so in a way it is new while still feeling like an old friend.
Rae, Tillytuck, and Judy are the rightful stars of the book, although I love Pat and how she, with grace and laughter, adapts to the changes she most dreads--and LMM hits her with the worst ones imaginable, such as May, who LMM skillfully makes the reader despise. I feel so sympathetic to all Pat endures. Although she learns that, yes, Silver Bush cannot give her full happiness, she wisely appreciates that having a home and family we belong to is one of life's greatest joys. That, I think, is why I feel most at home in Pat's books. Anne and Emily are ambitious and like to have adventures. I, like Pat, prefer a quieter life at home.
I find that I don't have a problem with the ending. Life is often like that--people plod along for years and then a bunch of catastrophes happen in quick succession. I wish Pat did not have to go through it, though!
Along with Emily's Quest, Anne of Ingleside, and Jane of Lantern Hill, I enjoyed imagining and penciling in chapter titles for this book. I hope I captured the spirit of the contents.
***
2010
Yes, there is too little Hilary, and I can see how this Pat sequel would turn readers off with its potential for being depressing and its rather slapdash ending. But I find it charming, romantic, and best of all, like home, to a degree that the other LMM books don't quite reach. Judy, Tillytuck, Rae (she's so bracing), and, of course, the cats, are all delightful. Pat herself is full of fancy not much different from Anne's. I often dream of Anne, Emily, and Pat meeting each other! What would they say and do? I'm sure they would love each other.
While it certainly isn't the most uplifting of LMM's books, it is sympathetic to the part of me that craves a 'simple' life of domestic activities, nature, and companionship, and, when I emerge from it, I have an increased appreciation for what's around me.
The long list of Pat's rejected suitors does get a bit tiresome and unrealistic. I'm sure the men wouldn't have continued to attend her if she was so aloof.
Oh, oh, sure and I do be wishing that me fine May Binnie would appear before me so I could give her a resounding slap!
Every word of this book feeds my soul, and I have never been so reluctant to finish it and leave Silver Bush behind until the next reread. I am home at Silver Bush. I despair with Pat when detestable May Bonnie comes to live there yet thrill at the way Pat, Judy, and Rae endure her and refuse to let her ruin their lives. Despite Pat's aversion to change she manages, along with Judy, to find the beauty and humor in everything. That is a characteristic I wish I better emulated. And dear Hilary is at last rewarded for his patience. Even though I understand complaints I have read about this book, for me it is faultless in beauty, hope, and warmth.
***
2021 reread:
I love this one more each time I read it. It is as of now one of my very favorite LMM books. Hilary, despite not having too many lines or scenes, is my favorite LMM hero. Interestingly, I feel that David Kirk has less personality this time, while I notice mother more. Yes, she is an archetype of a gentle, gracious mother, but somehow she has a strong presence on this reread. That is a large part of why I reread--aspects of a book stand out and affect me differently each time I read it, so in a way it is new while still feeling like an old friend.
Rae, Tillytuck, and Judy are the rightful stars of the book, although I love Pat and how she, with grace and laughter, adapts to the changes she most dreads--and LMM hits her with the worst ones imaginable, such as May, who LMM skillfully makes the reader despise. I feel so sympathetic to all Pat endures. Although she learns that, yes, Silver Bush cannot give her full happiness, she wisely appreciates that having a home and family we belong to is one of life's greatest joys. That, I think, is why I feel most at home in Pat's books. Anne and Emily are ambitious and like to have adventures. I, like Pat, prefer a quieter life at home.
I find that I don't have a problem with the ending. Life is often like that--people plod along for years and then a bunch of catastrophes happen in quick succession. I wish Pat did not have to go through it, though!
Along with Emily's Quest, Anne of Ingleside, and Jane of Lantern Hill, I enjoyed imagining and penciling in chapter titles for this book. I hope I captured the spirit of the contents.
***
2010
Yes, there is too little Hilary, and I can see how this Pat sequel would turn readers off with its potential for being depressing and its rather slapdash ending. But I find it charming, romantic, and best of all, like home, to a degree that the other LMM books don't quite reach. Judy, Tillytuck, Rae (she's so bracing), and, of course, the cats, are all delightful. Pat herself is full of fancy not much different from Anne's. I often dream of Anne, Emily, and Pat meeting each other! What would they say and do? I'm sure they would love each other.
While it certainly isn't the most uplifting of LMM's books, it is sympathetic to the part of me that craves a 'simple' life of domestic activities, nature, and companionship, and, when I emerge from it, I have an increased appreciation for what's around me.
The long list of Pat's rejected suitors does get a bit tiresome and unrealistic. I'm sure the men wouldn't have continued to attend her if she was so aloof.
Oh, oh, sure and I do be wishing that me fine May Binnie would appear before me so I could give her a resounding slap!
January 19, 2020
Originally published in 1935, this sequel to
Pat of Silver Bush
just happens to be the last of L.M. Montgomery's novels that I had not yet read, making the experience of completing it rather bittersweet. Continuing the story of Pat Gardiner, whose love for her home at Silver Bush, and for her circle of friends and family, is as strong as ever, it is spread out over eleven years, with an multi-part chapter devoted to each.
The domestic traditions of Silver Bush, the widening social and romantic lives of Pat and her sister Rae (formerly Cuddles), the magical stories of Judy Plum and the new hired man, Josiah Tillytuck, all combine to fill Pat's days with happiness. But always, something is missing. Is it simply foreboding at the inevitable changes, such as Sid's marriage, that lie ahead? Or does Pat need something that Silver Bush cannot supply?
There is much here to enjoy, from Montgomery's lovely passages devoted to the natural beauty of Prince Edward Island, to the emotionally resonant ups and downs of sisterhood. And of course, the heartwarming presence of the Silver Bush kitties is always a winner! But if I'm honest, Mistress Pat simply isn't Montgomery at her best. Despite having "grown up," Pat still moves from three-dimensional character to caricature, upon occasion. The slapdash resolution, which crowds a death, a terrible catastrophe, and an unexpected epiphany into the last twenty pages, somehow isn't very convincing. In another author, this might have earned a two-star demotion, as it is, this is one Montgomery title I probably won't revisit very often.
The domestic traditions of Silver Bush, the widening social and romantic lives of Pat and her sister Rae (formerly Cuddles), the magical stories of Judy Plum and the new hired man, Josiah Tillytuck, all combine to fill Pat's days with happiness. But always, something is missing. Is it simply foreboding at the inevitable changes, such as Sid's marriage, that lie ahead? Or does Pat need something that Silver Bush cannot supply?
There is much here to enjoy, from Montgomery's lovely passages devoted to the natural beauty of Prince Edward Island, to the emotionally resonant ups and downs of sisterhood. And of course, the heartwarming presence of the Silver Bush kitties is always a winner! But if I'm honest, Mistress Pat simply isn't Montgomery at her best. Despite having "grown up," Pat still moves from three-dimensional character to caricature, upon occasion. The slapdash resolution, which crowds a death, a terrible catastrophe, and an unexpected epiphany into the last twenty pages, somehow isn't very convincing. In another author, this might have earned a two-star demotion, as it is, this is one Montgomery title I probably won't revisit very often.
June 26, 2008
My least favorite of all of the L.M. Montgomery books. I like Pat okay in Pat of Silver Bush, but I want to hit her over the head repeatedly in this book. Cuddles and Jingle are my favorite characters, and we don't get enough of either of them, just lots of annoying Pat.
January 27, 2019
I'm a bigger fan of Pat after this sequel novel. I remember that the first book "Pat of Silver Bush" didn't feel, to me, like most of Montgomery's works do. Still, I knew I must read the sequel... And I'm so glad I did! Pat has risen high in my esteem. Another fun, sweet, loving character in L.M. Montgomery's canon.
It's such a cozy story too, most of the plot surrounding Silver Bush, Pat's family home. One of her greatest fears is to leave it behind when/if she marries, as she is so very much in love with the house itself and the comforts that she and her family members enjoy there.
"Whatever came and went, whoever loved or did not love her, there was still Silver Bush."
List of characters I will forever miss reading more about: Judy Plum. I wish she was in my kitchen all the time, cooking up wonders and always ready for a talk when you need it. The cherry on top of Judy Plum is her adorable Irish brogue.
"And just be remimbering, Patsy, what the Good Book says... about happiness being inside av ye and not outside. Thim mayn't just be the words but it's what I'm belaving it manes."
It turns out, there's much misery in store for Pat in this volume... To be honest (no real spoilers here), but the ending of "Mistress Pat" just tears my eyes up. Keep your tissues at the ready. A bit too dramatic for my Montgomery liking though... I'd tell you another author that the ending reminds me of, but that would give away too much. However, good things, silver linings, come out of bad events... Like being refined in fire, so Pat emerges a new woman.
A story of hope for the reader, with a vast mixture of emotions to relish in along the way.
"And besides we've always got to-morrow."
It's such a cozy story too, most of the plot surrounding Silver Bush, Pat's family home. One of her greatest fears is to leave it behind when/if she marries, as she is so very much in love with the house itself and the comforts that she and her family members enjoy there.
"Whatever came and went, whoever loved or did not love her, there was still Silver Bush."
List of characters I will forever miss reading more about: Judy Plum. I wish she was in my kitchen all the time, cooking up wonders and always ready for a talk when you need it. The cherry on top of Judy Plum is her adorable Irish brogue.
"And just be remimbering, Patsy, what the Good Book says... about happiness being inside av ye and not outside. Thim mayn't just be the words but it's what I'm belaving it manes."
It turns out, there's much misery in store for Pat in this volume... To be honest (no real spoilers here), but the ending of "Mistress Pat" just tears my eyes up. Keep your tissues at the ready. A bit too dramatic for my Montgomery liking though... I'd tell you another author that the ending reminds me of, but that would give away too much. However, good things, silver linings, come out of bad events... Like being refined in fire, so Pat emerges a new woman.
A story of hope for the reader, with a vast mixture of emotions to relish in along the way.
"And besides we've always got to-morrow."
July 10, 2011
I loved this sequel to Pat of Silver Bush. I think I even probably like the two Pat books better than the Anne of Green Gables books - I just adore the picture of contented domesticity at Silver Bush they paint, with the marvellous descriptions of evenings sat together round the table, eating and telling stories. It just makes me feel all warm and cozy inside, and I love those sorts of books. In the second half of this book, the domesticity rather recedes, and it becomes the gentle romance I was hoping for at the end of Pat of Silver Bush - the ultimate resolution of the plot is exactly what I expected, but there were several points during the book when I couldn't quite see how it was all going to work out correctly. When it finally did, in the last four pages or so, I found that it was so joyful I had to go to bed for a bit of a weep.
An utterly lovely book. I'm just sorry that it's a library book and I'll have to take it back rather than keeping it on the bookshelves.
An utterly lovely book. I'm just sorry that it's a library book and I'll have to take it back rather than keeping it on the bookshelves.
December 10, 2016
Hmmm, Mistress Pat...I don't really understand why I liked you. You're meandering and difficult, repetitive, and even dull. You have cat prose everywhere! You're divided up into eleven years with spring/summer/winter/fall descriptions uttered again and again.
Yet I read on, straight through Judy's jargon, cat prose, weather whimsy, and years of change. I felt tearful at the aging of Judy and McGinty, mad at Mae Binnie's cheapness of soul, charmed by Jingle's loyalty, at home in Judy's kitchen, delighted by Silver Bush.
At one point Tillytuck, your hired hand, states that "it's a great thing to be understood." And he was right.
So Mistress Pat despite your quirks and whimsy and roundabout story ways, I liked you. I think I even understood you a little.
Perhaps there is a bit o' magic at Silver Bush.
Yet I read on, straight through Judy's jargon, cat prose, weather whimsy, and years of change. I felt tearful at the aging of Judy and McGinty, mad at Mae Binnie's cheapness of soul, charmed by Jingle's loyalty, at home in Judy's kitchen, delighted by Silver Bush.
At one point Tillytuck, your hired hand, states that "it's a great thing to be understood." And he was right.
So Mistress Pat despite your quirks and whimsy and roundabout story ways, I liked you. I think I even understood you a little.
Perhaps there is a bit o' magic at Silver Bush.
June 23, 2009
i really want to like this book, but it spent 350 pages hitting me over the head with depression, and then dropped the two worst possible scenarios in the last two chapters. seriously, lmm? i guess the end redeemed it all somewhat, but for an lmm book, getting there was sometimes more painful that it should have been.
February 18, 2011
I was going to SCREAM if I heard "Silver Bush" one more time!
April 25, 2023
DNF at 80 pages. Let me preface this review by stating that Anne of Green Gables is a long loved favorite of mine. Pat Gardiner, the heroine of Silver Bush, loves her home so much, it's annoying. The housekeeper, Judy Plum, is an interesting character, but I have to admit her Irish brogue made me weary in reading it. This is not in the same class as Anne of Green Gables.
September 22, 2016
A book that makes me feel this much---including tears---has got to be rated five stars, even if I didn't like everything that happened therein.
Full review:
The first half of this book was leisurely paced. The picture of life at Silver Bush was so cozy and domestic it was a comfort to read. In changing times when people were snubbing the old delights of hospitality, doing less at home and eating more store-bought food, just the precursor to our lifestyle today, Silver Bush, under the leadership of Pat and Judy Plum, offered lovely, old-fashioned comfort and pleasure for their guests. The family loved their house. That’s something many people are sorely missing today—a house that feels like home.
The book is divided into large chapters that detail each year of life at Silver Bush after Pat is twenty, and each chapter has a section that acts as a chapter within the chapter. The years change over when September rolls into October, which emphasizes Pat’s autumnal persona. Autumn is her favorite season (if I remember right), and her coloring and personality are reminiscent of it. Montgomery wrote the two Pat books when she was around sixty. Their wistful tone reflect the outlook of an older woman. Pat resists change; she isn’t a typical young woman who’s excited by broadening prospects. I identified with Pat in this—I tend to dislike change because usually the changes don’t seem better. But, like Pat, I’ve learned that change can be embraced. Certain passages, especially later in the book when Pat’s life was altering quickly, impacted my attitude. I love it when fiction is naturally improving instead of preachy.
The tension hiked upward in the latter half of the book. I was so saddened by some of these latter events that I had to keep telling myself, “Montgomery writes happy endings. They may be bittersweet, but they’re ultimately happy.” One of the events so upset me I choked up. When it combined with another event—this one happy—I actually did cry. It seemed like Montgomery was writing that ending just for me. The bad event is one of the things I fear most in actuality, and the good event is one of the things I long for the most. It’s no wonder I was so emotional about it.
Pat became a very well-developed character in this book. Judy Plum shone. Tillytuck and David and Suzanne Kirk were happy additions. May Binnie was the perfect antagonist. I found Pat’s numerous suitors confusing, but I suppose they were confusing to everyone in the story as well. I loved how Cuddles—or Rae—became prominent. My only complaint is that there was far too little of Jingle/Hilary Gordon. He was so wonderful in the first book; perhaps if there were more of him in the sequel Pat wouldn’t have had a good excuse for taking so long to make up her mind about him.
Mistress Pat was one of those Montgomery books I’ll read again and again. It radiates warmth and love for home and family. It proves the truth that, as precious as comfort and home are, people are what really matters.
Full review:
The first half of this book was leisurely paced. The picture of life at Silver Bush was so cozy and domestic it was a comfort to read. In changing times when people were snubbing the old delights of hospitality, doing less at home and eating more store-bought food, just the precursor to our lifestyle today, Silver Bush, under the leadership of Pat and Judy Plum, offered lovely, old-fashioned comfort and pleasure for their guests. The family loved their house. That’s something many people are sorely missing today—a house that feels like home.
The book is divided into large chapters that detail each year of life at Silver Bush after Pat is twenty, and each chapter has a section that acts as a chapter within the chapter. The years change over when September rolls into October, which emphasizes Pat’s autumnal persona. Autumn is her favorite season (if I remember right), and her coloring and personality are reminiscent of it. Montgomery wrote the two Pat books when she was around sixty. Their wistful tone reflect the outlook of an older woman. Pat resists change; she isn’t a typical young woman who’s excited by broadening prospects. I identified with Pat in this—I tend to dislike change because usually the changes don’t seem better. But, like Pat, I’ve learned that change can be embraced. Certain passages, especially later in the book when Pat’s life was altering quickly, impacted my attitude. I love it when fiction is naturally improving instead of preachy.
The tension hiked upward in the latter half of the book. I was so saddened by some of these latter events that I had to keep telling myself, “Montgomery writes happy endings. They may be bittersweet, but they’re ultimately happy.” One of the events so upset me I choked up. When it combined with another event—this one happy—I actually did cry. It seemed like Montgomery was writing that ending just for me. The bad event is one of the things I fear most in actuality, and the good event is one of the things I long for the most. It’s no wonder I was so emotional about it.
Pat became a very well-developed character in this book. Judy Plum shone. Tillytuck and David and Suzanne Kirk were happy additions. May Binnie was the perfect antagonist. I found Pat’s numerous suitors confusing, but I suppose they were confusing to everyone in the story as well. I loved how Cuddles—or Rae—became prominent. My only complaint is that there was far too little of Jingle/Hilary Gordon. He was so wonderful in the first book; perhaps if there were more of him in the sequel Pat wouldn’t have had a good excuse for taking so long to make up her mind about him.
Mistress Pat was one of those Montgomery books I’ll read again and again. It radiates warmth and love for home and family. It proves the truth that, as precious as comfort and home are, people are what really matters.
July 15, 2017
Mistress Pat doesn't hold up quite as well upon revisiting it as an adult... The issue of flimsy characters persists from the last book, though there is a good solid core of well written people, namely Pat herself, Judy Plum, Cuddles/Rae, and Tillytuck. Everybody else had no life in them apart from their interactions with these characters.
I found it harder and harder to relate to Pat's passionate attachment to her house... Pat's obsession with it really did get in the way of some of her friendships. There wasn't as much growth as I like to see in a character, and frankly, I find it unfortunate that
I think the same observations I made about the first book apply here. L.M. Montgomery's life was plunged into depression by the mania of her husband. Just the fact that these books got written in the midst of the madness is a triumph and a testament to Montgomery's devotion to her craft.
I found it harder and harder to relate to Pat's passionate attachment to her house... Pat's obsession with it really did get in the way of some of her friendships. There wasn't as much growth as I like to see in a character, and frankly, I find it unfortunate that
I think the same observations I made about the first book apply here. L.M. Montgomery's life was plunged into depression by the mania of her husband. Just the fact that these books got written in the midst of the madness is a triumph and a testament to Montgomery's devotion to her craft.
June 24, 2017
Pat continues her opposition to change but as life marches on change is inevitable. I found most of the book to be a wistful look at the past, remembering the events of the last book and resenting the changes that come with growing up. Pat remains much the same through out this book as she was in the last. Although the events of the last couple years of the story do see her mature some. I found myself missing the character of Hillary immensely. Although he is referenced often he doesn't reaapear until near the end. However the wait for him is rewarded. Again I found the character of May Binnie to exist for no other reason than to torment Pat. While I do wish the story continued, I found the beginning of the book to be rather slow and drawn out. The last few chapters pick up in pace and plot. That being said, I did find the format interesting. The book is divided into years, each section getting smaller. This nicely illustrated how time seems to go by quicker as we get older. All in all, not a bad read but not my favorite.
May 25, 2021
It was Pat herself that did it...I dreaded her infatuation with her house (and her constant denial as to her own true feelings), but all's well that ends well, so she gets her fairy tale ending although first she has to suffer loss, change, heartbreak, confusion amid good laughter with good old Judy . It was a good read though at times I really wanted it to finish, it dragged a bit (it spans 11 years, some more or less documented), and I think I ended up liking any other of the characters except Pat (and of course the Binnies😄🙈, though I sometimes sympathised with Pat but never with the Binnies). She seemed to me very selfish and although she did learn some lessons by the end of the book she would never be a kindred spirit.
November 24, 2014
Having not been overly impressed with Pat of Silver Bush, why did I read the continuation? Well, curiousity for one. What could she possibly have to say about this obviously unbalanced woman who resists change to an unhealthy degree, even positive change, even in other adults who really don't require her opinion (her father's choice to shave off his mustache upsets her for days), and is obsessively attached to a house and a few acres of land?
Well, a lot, actually. But in this volume the "saying" seems to reveal the author's own dislike of her character. I'm still wondering how little control-freak Pat talked her (adult) parents into letting her call the shots in their own home. Yes, her mother is an "invalid" but she's not actually bedridden. Her father, though called "Master of Silver Bush" repeatedly, opts out and lets Pat do as she likes. For another thing, Montgomery shows a nastily snobbish side of Pat's character when dealing with Sid's new wife. Looks like somebody never grew up. Or perhaps...she was just...farr too "attached" to brother Sid?
Pat continues to play fast and loose with her many admirers, though by the end of the book she is almost 30. It takes a disaster to wake her up from the dream of being able to control her life, her home and everyone around her. And when that comeuppance comes, suddenly her personality is totally transformed; from being unable to even change the wallpaper in the guest room, she is suddenly able to drop everything and cross the continent? Obviously schizo, and totally unbelievable. Amor may vincit omnia, but it doesn't make you into a totally different person in a few seconds. And speaking of amor, the resolution of the romantic theme is crammed into the last few pages in the most annoying way. Having trudged through about 300 pages, I had hoped for something a bit more rounded and satisfying.
I've heard that LM Montgomery was depressed when she wrote this. She may have been. I certainly found it depressing to read. The language is good, except for the nauseating "flights of fancy" re: Nature; Pat makes Anne Shirley seem staid by contrast. What was mildly amusing in the character of Anne the faux-bluestocking lover of big words, is just another symptom of imbalance in excessive, intemperate, immature Pat.
Well, a lot, actually. But in this volume the "saying" seems to reveal the author's own dislike of her character. I'm still wondering how little control-freak Pat talked her (adult) parents into letting her call the shots in their own home. Yes, her mother is an "invalid" but she's not actually bedridden. Her father, though called "Master of Silver Bush" repeatedly, opts out and lets Pat do as she likes. For another thing, Montgomery shows a nastily snobbish side of Pat's character when dealing with Sid's new wife. Looks like somebody never grew up. Or perhaps...she was just...farr too "attached" to brother Sid?
Pat continues to play fast and loose with her many admirers, though by the end of the book she is almost 30. It takes a disaster to wake her up from the dream of being able to control her life, her home and everyone around her. And when that comeuppance comes, suddenly her personality is totally transformed; from being unable to even change the wallpaper in the guest room, she is suddenly able to drop everything and cross the continent? Obviously schizo, and totally unbelievable. Amor may vincit omnia, but it doesn't make you into a totally different person in a few seconds. And speaking of amor, the resolution of the romantic theme is crammed into the last few pages in the most annoying way. Having trudged through about 300 pages, I had hoped for something a bit more rounded and satisfying.
I've heard that LM Montgomery was depressed when she wrote this. She may have been. I certainly found it depressing to read. The language is good, except for the nauseating "flights of fancy" re: Nature; Pat makes Anne Shirley seem staid by contrast. What was mildly amusing in the character of Anne the faux-bluestocking lover of big words, is just another symptom of imbalance in excessive, intemperate, immature Pat.
September 23, 2009
I don't really know how to review this book. In the beginning I found it slow-going and tedious, I felt it was mainly a repetition of the same theme we already learned in the first book: Pat doesn't like change. Well, much of the book revolves around that theme, but Pat also has to begin learning to accept change, and somehow as the book progressed I began to love it more. A lot of people seem to find Pat an annoying character, and I can easily see how someone would feel that way - and I'm not sure how good it is to write a heroine whose only driving force is her resistance to change, it makes her too passive in the story. But I still liked Pat a great deal and related to her more than I expected. I've moved house around 20 times in my 27 years and think of change as likely to bring good things as well as bad, so in that respect I'm not at all like Pat - but in some other respects I found a lot that was familiar in her.
Still, without secondary characters like Judy Plum, Tillytuck and Rae the book would be dull, because Pat is such a passive protagonist, and I didn't like it that Hilary (Jingle) was so absent for most of the book. The stream of Pat's rejected admirers became rather tedious, and I can't help thinking that men would have been likely to give up a lot sooner on someone who rejected them as much as she did. The conclusion of the book contained events that I had predicted from the outset.
It has to be said that this is the most depressive and painful LMM novel I've read so far. Especially towards the end it reminds me more of some of the more depressive parts of LMM's own journals (she had quite a difficult life in many ways) than of her other novels. So if readers are looking for Anne-like cheerfulness, I'm not surprised they don't enjoy this novel as much. But in my emotional autumn mood, I rather enjoyed the sadness as well. This novel contains some of Montgomery's most beautiful passages, but sometimes the writing is also a bit dull, and I find her constant use of ellipses irritating. She never did it in her earlier work, but in the Pat books ellipses were suddenly used more than any other punctuation, it seemed.
Still, without secondary characters like Judy Plum, Tillytuck and Rae the book would be dull, because Pat is such a passive protagonist, and I didn't like it that Hilary (Jingle) was so absent for most of the book. The stream of Pat's rejected admirers became rather tedious, and I can't help thinking that men would have been likely to give up a lot sooner on someone who rejected them as much as she did. The conclusion of the book contained events that I had predicted from the outset.
It has to be said that this is the most depressive and painful LMM novel I've read so far. Especially towards the end it reminds me more of some of the more depressive parts of LMM's own journals (she had quite a difficult life in many ways) than of her other novels. So if readers are looking for Anne-like cheerfulness, I'm not surprised they don't enjoy this novel as much. But in my emotional autumn mood, I rather enjoyed the sadness as well. This novel contains some of Montgomery's most beautiful passages, but sometimes the writing is also a bit dull, and I find her constant use of ellipses irritating. She never did it in her earlier work, but in the Pat books ellipses were suddenly used more than any other punctuation, it seemed.
January 25, 2015
Pat hates change, but change is inevitable. Change comes whether one welcomes it or not. And Silver Bush is no exception to this rule.
"Mistress Pat" is a rather slow book. It takes place over many years and simply documents the many changes that occur at Silver Bush. The many changes that makes Pat's life unbearably hard. Minor catastrophes and small tragedies haunt Silver Bush, souring the life for Pat and the people she loves. While all of Pat's choices in life has been made in order to protect Silver Bush, she suddenly wonders if perhaps she was striving for the wrong thing. Perhaps a life confined to the edges of Silver Bush's poplar trees isn't enough.
The novel is bittersweet, filled with longing, hoping and clinging to a distant dream of what life was supposed to be.
"Mistress Pat" is a rather slow book. It takes place over many years and simply documents the many changes that occur at Silver Bush. The many changes that makes Pat's life unbearably hard. Minor catastrophes and small tragedies haunt Silver Bush, souring the life for Pat and the people she loves. While all of Pat's choices in life has been made in order to protect Silver Bush, she suddenly wonders if perhaps she was striving for the wrong thing. Perhaps a life confined to the edges of Silver Bush's poplar trees isn't enough.
The novel is bittersweet, filled with longing, hoping and clinging to a distant dream of what life was supposed to be.
March 1, 2022
As a general rule L.M. Montgomery writes some of my favourite books, sadly Pat is a character though I just don’t quite get. I found throughout the book I was quite irritated by her, I would much rather be friends with Emily, Anne and co.
December 12, 2018
Pat of Silver Bush is back for a sequel. If you imagine nobody could possibly eke out an interesting story about a young woman who simply keeps house and enjoys simple things, then think again. But your feelings about the book might hinge on how you feel about sitting in cosy rooms, having jokes, chats and nibbles with close family members. If you're a domestic introvert like me, it'll tick all your boxes. But if you always prefer more of a complex action plot, then consider yourself duly warned, a huge percentage is jokes, chats and nibbles.
I'd better just warn you, there are plot spoilers in this review (despite some readers considering Mistress Pat doesn't have much plot.) It's the sort of book where any decent thoughts for a review must directly address what happens, or else there's nothing much to say. Occasional ones are like that, so proceed with caution. But I will hide them when we get to really dangerous waters.
It picks up soon after the spot where the first book leaves off. Mother is a semi-invalid, having undergone a tricky heart operation. Even though Pat calls her the 'life and soul of the house,' the ongoing story still seems to function without her playing much of a role. I think Judy is the real heart and soul. Pat has opted to give up the chance to teach school so Winnie is free to marry Frank, but the decision was a no-brainer for her. Dad and Sid still work hard, and hire a great new hand named Tillytuck. Baby sister Cuddles is now a bright young teenager who prefers to be called Rae (short for Rachel). And Jingle/Hilary is off learning to be a terrific architect.
The story quietly taps into the topic of time, which always fascinates me. A distant relative who pays a visit thinks, 'What a quiet, beautiful place where there is time to live.' That's part of the charming Silver Bush atmosphere Pat loves to foster, but even with the illusion of time meandering slowly, the changes she tries to ward off keep coming. I was in the perfect mood for them. Not long ago, my Dad passed away and soon after that it became necessary for my family to move house. Both were out of the blue. And our little nine-year-old guinea pig crossed the rainbow bridge too. I sense LMM wrote this book in a later stage of her career, as her similar reaction to being knocked around by life's sudden turns. One sentence I highlighted was this one. 'How life grew around changes until they became a part of it and were changes no more.' Pat has to experience this and so do we.
Since life's messages can dawn on us in simple insights from the blue, that's how a lot of the book is structured, so I'll finish with a few very brief observations.
* Courtships can take as short as Rae's (three days) or as long as Pat and Hilary's (20+ years). Most are more normal, and fall anywhere in between.
* Hilary Gordon deserves more of a high profile in readers' list of wonderful romantic heroes than he often gets. The way he stays true to Pat while she fobs him off for year after year is astounding. And this extract from the letter he sent her works its magic on me. 'Don't feel badly because I love you and you can't love me. If the choice had been mine I would have still have chosen to love you. There are people who try to forget a hopeless love. I'm not one of them, Pat... My love for you has enriched my whole existence and given me the gift of clear vision for the things that matter. It has been a lamp held before my feet whereby I have avoided many pitfalls of baser passions and unworthy dreams.'
* David Kirk is one of my favourite characters in this story. Rather than coming across as 'the other guy', he's such a cool, kind person.
* Perhaps different families are neither superior nor inferior to others. Do the Binnies really have bad taste in every aspect of their lives, or are they just different from the Gardiners? I wouldn't be surprised if some readers concur more with their decorating styles and methods of communication.
* Pat hates inter-family quarrels but I'm wondering how they'll avoid future friction between her offspring and Sid's, since he went and married May. With such different mothers, I can't imagine these sets of cousins ever seeing eye to eye.
* Pat and Hilary's kids had better steel themselves to hear lots of stories about Silver Bush!
🌟🌟🌟🌟½
I'd better just warn you, there are plot spoilers in this review (despite some readers considering Mistress Pat doesn't have much plot.) It's the sort of book where any decent thoughts for a review must directly address what happens, or else there's nothing much to say. Occasional ones are like that, so proceed with caution. But I will hide them when we get to really dangerous waters.
It picks up soon after the spot where the first book leaves off. Mother is a semi-invalid, having undergone a tricky heart operation. Even though Pat calls her the 'life and soul of the house,' the ongoing story still seems to function without her playing much of a role. I think Judy is the real heart and soul. Pat has opted to give up the chance to teach school so Winnie is free to marry Frank, but the decision was a no-brainer for her. Dad and Sid still work hard, and hire a great new hand named Tillytuck. Baby sister Cuddles is now a bright young teenager who prefers to be called Rae (short for Rachel). And Jingle/Hilary is off learning to be a terrific architect.
The story quietly taps into the topic of time, which always fascinates me. A distant relative who pays a visit thinks, 'What a quiet, beautiful place where there is time to live.' That's part of the charming Silver Bush atmosphere Pat loves to foster, but even with the illusion of time meandering slowly, the changes she tries to ward off keep coming. I was in the perfect mood for them. Not long ago, my Dad passed away and soon after that it became necessary for my family to move house. Both were out of the blue. And our little nine-year-old guinea pig crossed the rainbow bridge too. I sense LMM wrote this book in a later stage of her career, as her similar reaction to being knocked around by life's sudden turns. One sentence I highlighted was this one. 'How life grew around changes until they became a part of it and were changes no more.' Pat has to experience this and so do we.
Since life's messages can dawn on us in simple insights from the blue, that's how a lot of the book is structured, so I'll finish with a few very brief observations.
* Courtships can take as short as Rae's (three days) or as long as Pat and Hilary's (20+ years). Most are more normal, and fall anywhere in between.
* Hilary Gordon deserves more of a high profile in readers' list of wonderful romantic heroes than he often gets. The way he stays true to Pat while she fobs him off for year after year is astounding. And this extract from the letter he sent her works its magic on me. 'Don't feel badly because I love you and you can't love me. If the choice had been mine I would have still have chosen to love you. There are people who try to forget a hopeless love. I'm not one of them, Pat... My love for you has enriched my whole existence and given me the gift of clear vision for the things that matter. It has been a lamp held before my feet whereby I have avoided many pitfalls of baser passions and unworthy dreams.'
* David Kirk is one of my favourite characters in this story. Rather than coming across as 'the other guy', he's such a cool, kind person.
* Perhaps different families are neither superior nor inferior to others. Do the Binnies really have bad taste in every aspect of their lives, or are they just different from the Gardiners? I wouldn't be surprised if some readers concur more with their decorating styles and methods of communication.
* Pat hates inter-family quarrels but I'm wondering how they'll avoid future friction between her offspring and Sid's, since he went and married May. With such different mothers, I can't imagine these sets of cousins ever seeing eye to eye.
* Pat and Hilary's kids had better steel themselves to hear lots of stories about Silver Bush!
🌟🌟🌟🌟½
November 11, 2025
It's been several years since I read this book, so I apologize in advance if I butcher the details in this review. I remember that I really enjoyed this sequel to Pat of Silver Bush. L.M. Montgomery's writing style is so beautiful. I get sucked into her stories in a way that's hard to explain. In true Montgomery fashion, the romance in this book is SOO drawn out. It's way obvious that Pat's childhood friend Hilary is also the love of her life and that she should marry him immediately, but she foolishly rebuffs him. This was my gripe with Pat throughout this book, but it's also the whole shtick of her character; that she has a strong aversion to change of any kind. It's understandable, considering she had an idyllic childhood growing up in a picture-perfect country home with a kind and loving family. This was a melancholy read, at times, because Pat's stubborn refusal to move on with her life and her tenacious grip on the things of the past really holds her back and causes heartache. After years and years she *finally* comes to her senses and realizes she loves Hilary. What a waste, when she could've been happily married to him all those years. Through these years she undergoes tragedy, makes mistakes, and eventually learns that things can't stay the same forever. Despite my aggravation with Pat's mindset throughout the book, it was an engrossing read with a slow-burn romance that kept me turning the pages (figuratively - I read it on my kindle).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 14, 2018
2.5 stars. RTC?
August 3, 2018
5 Stars
November 11, 2024
I’m not surprised by so many lower ratings on this book, only because the whole time I was reading it, I thought about how so much of it is a stark contrast to the modern world, where heaven forbid we live a life of service or find joy in a simple life or value home and family. The fact that this book spans so many years is admittedly excessive, but LMM did love to drag her characters through years of bleak loneliness, poor thing. I love Pat and her loyalty to her home and family and her delight in the domestic and mundane. Sure, she was stubborn and foolish about some things, but aren’t we all sometimes? Pat might be my new favorite LMM heroine— after Anne, of course.
May 13, 2018
When I first read this book, back in August 2017, I did not have a Goodreads account yet. But I wanted to talk about how I felt after reading it, so I wrote some bits and pieces in my journal-diary which I will share here:
"I feel a lot like Patricia Gardiner; I can fully understand her. (I suppose I was talking about how she dislikes change.) But like in all books, she is rather pretty, and her true love comes for her in the end. There aren't any books where the heroine isn't pretty. That would make things better. I could be more hopeful then.
I do feel awfully sorry for David Kirk. Just like Dean Priest. Seems like there are plenty of men like them in the world. I would love to be able to fill the lonely aching abyss (I think I made up that phrase to describe an empty heart) of one such man. To bring love, joy, laughter into his eyes and face, and life... I just wish I had a Judy Plum to sit with and talk about things in the kitchen while eating "liddle bites". Life is no fairytale, but life can be made pleasant."
Now, after reading this book again, I feel mostly the same, except I don't grudge Pat her beauty or her true love. 😄
First, I love the name of the Gardiner home, Silver Bush. It stirs the imagination and makes the place memorable. (I wish our place was named something nice like that.) L.M.M always manages to give homes names that sound right and are unforgettable. Examples include Green Gables (of course!), Lantern Hill, Rose Cottage...
Second, I loved the side characters like Judy Plum, Tillytuck, Mama and Papa Gardiner, and of course, Rae. I also adored Hilary "Jingle" Gordon, but I loved and felt sorry for David Kirk. I can't understand why L.M.M. puts in beautiful characters like him just to have them end up lonely, almost always. It's heart-breaking. There's Dean Priest in the Emily of New Moon books, there's Capt. Harris in the Anne of Avonlea movie, there's Arthur Pettibone in the Road to Avonlea series, and the list goes on.
The only story in which the older, more subdued suitor actually made it to the altar, was A Tangled Web. That was one lucky character.
One thing that I don't like in the newer books of L.M.M. is the modernization. The girls start wearing dresses without backs, and there are tons of "beaus" all over the place, and motorcars becoming more common, and the words! pi-jaw!? I am glad that Pat remains traditional and modest, and down-to-earth. I can't help laughing over her rejection of her long line of suitors, though. And the reasons she has for rejecting some of them are so hilarious, like "He breathes through his mouth."
After the Fourth Year, the years pass by very quickly. I feel extremely sorry for Sid, for being dumped and for ending up with a Binnie... 😣 I felt exactly the same way I did for Mr. Quimby in Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes.
I feel just like Rae when she says, "my ambition seems to have petered out... We're like that at Silver Bush, it seems, Pat. We're just domestic girls after all and want a home to potter over, with a nice husband and a few nice babies." I wish my dad would understand that!
It's really sad and heart-wrenching when Judy gets ill; I think I wiped tears away that whole time. The mood gets very sorrowful towards the end of the book, but the finale is enchanting, perfectly lovely, and a very good one. Finally, everyone gets the happiness they deserve.
"I feel a lot like Patricia Gardiner; I can fully understand her. (I suppose I was talking about how she dislikes change.) But like in all books, she is rather pretty, and her true love comes for her in the end. There aren't any books where the heroine isn't pretty. That would make things better. I could be more hopeful then.
I do feel awfully sorry for David Kirk. Just like Dean Priest. Seems like there are plenty of men like them in the world. I would love to be able to fill the lonely aching abyss (I think I made up that phrase to describe an empty heart) of one such man. To bring love, joy, laughter into his eyes and face, and life... I just wish I had a Judy Plum to sit with and talk about things in the kitchen while eating "liddle bites". Life is no fairytale, but life can be made pleasant."
Now, after reading this book again, I feel mostly the same, except I don't grudge Pat her beauty or her true love. 😄
First, I love the name of the Gardiner home, Silver Bush. It stirs the imagination and makes the place memorable. (I wish our place was named something nice like that.) L.M.M always manages to give homes names that sound right and are unforgettable. Examples include Green Gables (of course!), Lantern Hill, Rose Cottage...
Second, I loved the side characters like Judy Plum, Tillytuck, Mama and Papa Gardiner, and of course, Rae. I also adored Hilary "Jingle" Gordon, but I loved and felt sorry for David Kirk. I can't understand why L.M.M. puts in beautiful characters like him just to have them end up lonely, almost always. It's heart-breaking. There's Dean Priest in the Emily of New Moon books, there's Capt. Harris in the Anne of Avonlea movie, there's Arthur Pettibone in the Road to Avonlea series, and the list goes on.
The only story in which the older, more subdued suitor actually made it to the altar, was A Tangled Web. That was one lucky character.
One thing that I don't like in the newer books of L.M.M. is the modernization. The girls start wearing dresses without backs, and there are tons of "beaus" all over the place, and motorcars becoming more common, and the words! pi-jaw!? I am glad that Pat remains traditional and modest, and down-to-earth. I can't help laughing over her rejection of her long line of suitors, though. And the reasons she has for rejecting some of them are so hilarious, like "He breathes through his mouth."
After the Fourth Year, the years pass by very quickly. I feel extremely sorry for Sid, for being dumped and for ending up with a Binnie... 😣 I felt exactly the same way I did for Mr. Quimby in Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes.
I feel just like Rae when she says, "my ambition seems to have petered out... We're like that at Silver Bush, it seems, Pat. We're just domestic girls after all and want a home to potter over, with a nice husband and a few nice babies." I wish my dad would understand that!
It's really sad and heart-wrenching when Judy gets ill; I think I wiped tears away that whole time. The mood gets very sorrowful towards the end of the book, but the finale is enchanting, perfectly lovely, and a very good one. Finally, everyone gets the happiness they deserve.
November 11, 2008
Pat's story is nicely continued, and nicely concluded.
Now some general L.M. Montgomery comments, after having just read 21 of her books in the last few months. Sometimes her endings are a little too abrupt for me, saving huge reversals until the last few pages. And she is a little too focused on fatalism, or pre-destination, as she calls it, in some books. The fatalism looms largest, in my opinion, in the Emily books. Hence I'm less fond of them. I don't believe that people "can't help it" and have just "got" to be the way they are, and every girl is only "meant" for one particular boy but she takes years of breaking hearts to realize that.
I think even Montgomery realizes that the fatalism doesn't always apply, since her characters grow and learn. Some people seem to think her books are too sweet and unrealistic. But the characters have tragedies, deal with the death of both old and young, financial reverses, foolish errors, and even the little trials that nit-pick at one's peace day after day, etc. Somehow these trials are endured, lived through, and even triumphed over. Her characters know how to work, how to love, and how to really live. I like them.
Now some general L.M. Montgomery comments, after having just read 21 of her books in the last few months. Sometimes her endings are a little too abrupt for me, saving huge reversals until the last few pages. And she is a little too focused on fatalism, or pre-destination, as she calls it, in some books. The fatalism looms largest, in my opinion, in the Emily books. Hence I'm less fond of them. I don't believe that people "can't help it" and have just "got" to be the way they are, and every girl is only "meant" for one particular boy but she takes years of breaking hearts to realize that.
I think even Montgomery realizes that the fatalism doesn't always apply, since her characters grow and learn. Some people seem to think her books are too sweet and unrealistic. But the characters have tragedies, deal with the death of both old and young, financial reverses, foolish errors, and even the little trials that nit-pick at one's peace day after day, etc. Somehow these trials are endured, lived through, and even triumphed over. Her characters know how to work, how to love, and how to really live. I like them.
July 2, 2020
Another reread for me, but this one has been so long that I couldn’t remember much.
I’m going to be totally honest–as much as I ADORE L.M. Montgomery, I had a difficult time with most of this one. I feel like it didn’t pick up until half way through and I had a hard time making myself read it. I don’t know why, because I love the writing. I think it may be that, as a character, Pat is just a little boring for me.
I found myself far more interested in the doings of Judy and Cuddles.
And, Pat without Jingle—well, that may have been my biggest issue. Jingle didn’t make an appearance until the end of the book–save for a very few correspondences.
All that to say–the ending killed me. I was a MESS! I won’t get into why–because that would ruin it–but, I feel like Montgomery drug us along through a quite uneventful 4/5 of the novel and then decided to put us through the wringer at the end.
So, in my opinion, it was well worth it to see how everything got tied up. It was a tearjerker. It was heartbreaking and bittersweet. It was the perfect ending.
I’m going to be totally honest–as much as I ADORE L.M. Montgomery, I had a difficult time with most of this one. I feel like it didn’t pick up until half way through and I had a hard time making myself read it. I don’t know why, because I love the writing. I think it may be that, as a character, Pat is just a little boring for me.
I found myself far more interested in the doings of Judy and Cuddles.
And, Pat without Jingle—well, that may have been my biggest issue. Jingle didn’t make an appearance until the end of the book–save for a very few correspondences.
All that to say–the ending killed me. I was a MESS! I won’t get into why–because that would ruin it–but, I feel like Montgomery drug us along through a quite uneventful 4/5 of the novel and then decided to put us through the wringer at the end.
So, in my opinion, it was well worth it to see how everything got tied up. It was a tearjerker. It was heartbreaking and bittersweet. It was the perfect ending.
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