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Pat of Silver Bush #1
Pat of Silver Bush
Patricia Gardiner loved Silver Bush more than anything else in the world. She was born and raised in the beautiful old-fashioned house on Prince Edward Island, "where things always seemed the same" and good things never changed. But things do change at Silver Bush—from her first day at school to the arrival of her new baby sister, from her aunt's joyous wedding to her own first romance. Through it all, Pat shares her experiences with her beloved friends and discovers the one thing that truly never changes: the beauty and peace she will always find at Silver Bush—the house that remembers her whole life.
278 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1933
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About the author
L.M. Montgomery
1,863 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 429 reviews
May 5, 2024
3,75/5
October 9, 2025
این دنیا یه جینگل بهم بدهکاره🥲
February 13, 2020
I have to admit that I am rather glad to NOT have read Pat of Silver Bush as my first L.M. Montgomery novel. For honestly, if I had encountered Pat of Silver Bush before the author's Anne of Green Gables or Emily of New Moon series, I might well have been tempted to stop reading L.M. Montgomery altogether, I might have (and indeed very much wrongly) assumed ALL of her heroines, her main characters to be as annoyingly passive and often repetitively monotonous as Pat Gardiner has felt to me with her almost obsessive love for her home, for Silver Bush and her consistent and constant resistance to any and all changes (both externally and internally), and that indeed oh so much of Pat of Silver Bush (and yes almost the entire first part of the novel it seems) therefore deals almost exclusively with the latter, has Pat's often unreasonable reactions to changes no matter how small as its main theme.
Now albeit that first reading Pat of Silver Bush as an older adult (and as an older adult who has read and enjoyed much of L.M. Montgomery's oeuvre) has definitely made me appreciative of Montgomery's verbally rich descriptiveness, of her love of home with her glowing and at times almost passionate depictions of Prince Edward Island (and that Pat of Silver Bush is likely also somewhat of an homage to the Island and probably as such even a way to assuage the author's own homesickness, as L.M. Montgomery never really did adjust all that well to having to live in Ontario after her marriage) I have indeed found especially Pat as a main character and yes even housekeeper Judy Plum, while both are loveable and endearing to a point, also rather frustratingly one-sided and sometimes so draggingly and tediously depicted (at least in the beginning of Pat of Silver Bush) that I was often rather tempted to skim over especially Judy Plum's constant gossiping and stories and Pat over and over again being categorically against this and that, against this change and that change (and I also have to say that I have indeed found Pat both rejecting Hilary's affection and that she cannot even really be all that happy for him being able to take an architecture degree in Toronto painful and sad, and yes rather selfish, and that this really does negatively present just how centred on her home and everything staying the same Pat always is).
But while in particular my issues with Pat Gardiner not wanting change and not even really desiring to grow up are actually kind of surprising and ironic to a point (at least coming from me) as I myself have often (in my own life and especially in childhood) acted and thought somewhat like Pat with regard to being resistant to changes, perhaps the mirror image staring back at me from the pages of Pat of Silver Bush is for one too similar and thus a trifle personally uncomfortable, and for two, I guess I kind of have also found it a bit problematic how everyone at Silver Bush often seems to so one hundred percent cater to Pat's (in my opinion) almost pathological at times issues with change, how her family continually seems to approach her with kid gloves so to speak instead of also and repeatedly pointing out that change is part of life and that in order to grow up and live successfully, change will have to be if not embraced, then at the very least somewhat and gracefully accepted.
And I guess I am definitely also rather frustrated that at the end of Pat of Silver Bush, L.M. Montgomery basically just lets Pat stay on at Silver Bush, lets her stay home on a permanent basis, that basically, Pat Gardiner's resistance to change and to leaving Silver Bush, to leaving home is not only condoned but actually even totally enabled, since instead of her family forcing Pat to also at least experience life as a teacher for a while and live away from home, she becomes the chatelaine of Silver Bush after her mother's illness and heart operation. And indeed, I am also rather leery of reading the sequel now, as I do wonder whether Mistress Pat will simply be very much of the same with regard to Patricia Gardiner and her rather overly possessive and obsessive attachment to her home, to her family, to her sacred and seemingly unassailable Gardiner traditions (because I kind of suspect if not know that another instalment of Pat of Silver Bush constantly fighting against any and all change will not be all that personally an enjoyable reading experience for me).
Now albeit that first reading Pat of Silver Bush as an older adult (and as an older adult who has read and enjoyed much of L.M. Montgomery's oeuvre) has definitely made me appreciative of Montgomery's verbally rich descriptiveness, of her love of home with her glowing and at times almost passionate depictions of Prince Edward Island (and that Pat of Silver Bush is likely also somewhat of an homage to the Island and probably as such even a way to assuage the author's own homesickness, as L.M. Montgomery never really did adjust all that well to having to live in Ontario after her marriage) I have indeed found especially Pat as a main character and yes even housekeeper Judy Plum, while both are loveable and endearing to a point, also rather frustratingly one-sided and sometimes so draggingly and tediously depicted (at least in the beginning of Pat of Silver Bush) that I was often rather tempted to skim over especially Judy Plum's constant gossiping and stories and Pat over and over again being categorically against this and that, against this change and that change (and I also have to say that I have indeed found Pat both rejecting Hilary's affection and that she cannot even really be all that happy for him being able to take an architecture degree in Toronto painful and sad, and yes rather selfish, and that this really does negatively present just how centred on her home and everything staying the same Pat always is).
But while in particular my issues with Pat Gardiner not wanting change and not even really desiring to grow up are actually kind of surprising and ironic to a point (at least coming from me) as I myself have often (in my own life and especially in childhood) acted and thought somewhat like Pat with regard to being resistant to changes, perhaps the mirror image staring back at me from the pages of Pat of Silver Bush is for one too similar and thus a trifle personally uncomfortable, and for two, I guess I kind of have also found it a bit problematic how everyone at Silver Bush often seems to so one hundred percent cater to Pat's (in my opinion) almost pathological at times issues with change, how her family continually seems to approach her with kid gloves so to speak instead of also and repeatedly pointing out that change is part of life and that in order to grow up and live successfully, change will have to be if not embraced, then at the very least somewhat and gracefully accepted.
And I guess I am definitely also rather frustrated that at the end of Pat of Silver Bush, L.M. Montgomery basically just lets Pat stay on at Silver Bush, lets her stay home on a permanent basis, that basically, Pat Gardiner's resistance to change and to leaving Silver Bush, to leaving home is not only condoned but actually even totally enabled, since instead of her family forcing Pat to also at least experience life as a teacher for a while and live away from home, she becomes the chatelaine of Silver Bush after her mother's illness and heart operation. And indeed, I am also rather leery of reading the sequel now, as I do wonder whether Mistress Pat will simply be very much of the same with regard to Patricia Gardiner and her rather overly possessive and obsessive attachment to her home, to her family, to her sacred and seemingly unassailable Gardiner traditions (because I kind of suspect if not know that another instalment of Pat of Silver Bush constantly fighting against any and all change will not be all that personally an enjoyable reading experience for me).
December 25, 2024
دنیای جادویی مونتگومری زیباست و قهرمانانش دوست داشتنی اند…فضاها و خانههایی که توصیف میکنه سرشار از عشق و زندگی هستن. کمتر کسی می تونه خونه ایی مثله مونتگومری عزیز با کلماتی فوق العاده بسازه. بیشه نقره ایی برای پت فقط خونه اش نیست بلکه تمام دنیاش هست. ترجمه نسبتا خوب بود و در ابتدای کتاب هم مترجم گفته که نویسنده به خاطر لهجه ایرلندی که برای شخصیت جودی به کار گرفته است تلاش کرده که این تفاوت رو تا جایی که می تونه نشون بده. فقط ساکنان خانه بِی شور خاله های پت هستند ولی مترجم اون ها رو عمه ترجمه کرده.
March 13, 2018
The main thing I want to say about this is that Jingle's name is not Hilary. Hilary is a dreadful name for a boy and he will always be Jingle to me. Thank you and goodnight.
June 22, 2017
Although I like almost everything L.M. Montgomery ever wrote, I have to admit that the Pat books are not my favorites. Pat Gardiner lives with her family at Silver Bush, an old house and farm on Prince Edward Island. Unlike Montgomery's other heroines, Pat has no ambitions other than to stay at home forever, taking care of the home and family she loves.
There's a feeling of domesticity and hominess which pervades the books, and I appreciate that more than I used to, but Pat is so neurotically attached to her home that she becomes a little hard to take. Happily, there are other characters who are more engaging (the old servant Judy Plum and Pat's sister Rae are probably my favorites), and Montgomery's affectionate descriptions of Prince Edward Island do make up for a lot of Pat's (and Pat's) failings.
There's a feeling of domesticity and hominess which pervades the books, and I appreciate that more than I used to, but Pat is so neurotically attached to her home that she becomes a little hard to take. Happily, there are other characters who are more engaging (the old servant Judy Plum and Pat's sister Rae are probably my favorites), and Montgomery's affectionate descriptions of Prince Edward Island do make up for a lot of Pat's (and Pat's) failings.
January 22, 2008
When I was entering my teens I fell in love with L. M. Montgomery's heroines. I started with Emily of New Moon and then moved on to Anne of Green Gables. While those two series still hold special places in my heart, I must say that I am baffled by Pat of Silver Bush.
Most of Montgomery's stories are about young women, usually pre-teen through late twenties, tacking adverse situations with grace and brains. Pat, though, comes from a fairly well to do family. She has a comfortable life and wants to keep it that way, no matter what. She has no desire to change or grow or even to leave her family home. In fact, in the end, she chooses Silver Bush over her long time boyfriend.
There is a long narrative tradition of stories ending almost where they started with the protagonist having grown or learned from the events of the story. Pat's resolute desire to avoid change would baffle even Tzvetan Todorov. Pat grows older over the course of the book but she doesn't grow as a character. She is the most boring and depressing heroine in a Montgomery book I've read.
Pat as a character is apparently redeemed in the last chapter of a follow up novel, Mistress Pat (1935). I however have no desire to spend any more time with Pat and her beloved home.
Most of Montgomery's stories are about young women, usually pre-teen through late twenties, tacking adverse situations with grace and brains. Pat, though, comes from a fairly well to do family. She has a comfortable life and wants to keep it that way, no matter what. She has no desire to change or grow or even to leave her family home. In fact, in the end, she chooses Silver Bush over her long time boyfriend.
There is a long narrative tradition of stories ending almost where they started with the protagonist having grown or learned from the events of the story. Pat's resolute desire to avoid change would baffle even Tzvetan Todorov. Pat grows older over the course of the book but she doesn't grow as a character. She is the most boring and depressing heroine in a Montgomery book I've read.
Pat as a character is apparently redeemed in the last chapter of a follow up novel, Mistress Pat (1935). I however have no desire to spend any more time with Pat and her beloved home.
October 31, 2018
I've chosen this as my Children's Classic in the 2018 Back to the Classics Challenge, and I'm lucky enough to own a very old edition, although I've no idea where it originally came from. But the publication date is 1934, and since the story was first published in 1933, it must be one of the earliest versions possible. Maybe my mum had it when she was a girl. It's a delight to read something so old.
If you're a fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery, you'd have to be living under a rock not to know that several readers throughout the decades have called Pat Gardiner her worst heroine, but to me she's the best! While favourites like Anne and Emily are easy to admire but pretty unreachable, Pat is the sort of girl anyone can aspire to be. She doesn't have their same drive to excel, but her special talent is simply the ability to love things and people extra hard, including her family home Silver Bush. Other than that she's quite content to be ordinary, with just a few close friends, average intelligence and no burning ambition. To me, that makes her a breath of fresh air in a world of self-promotion.
No Montgomery heroine can escape their own brand of intensity though, and it's the nature of Pat's that make detractors call her silly. She loves things so hard that she can't bear change of any sort, from the chopping down of trees, to people leaving the family nest, to her dad shaving off his moustache. We can guess from the start that she'll be in for one letdown after another, since change is inevitable. The episodes are structured in such a way that one looming change after another threatens Pat's security, until they're either diverted or prove to be not so bad. Except for the few that are heartbreaking. In our era of mental health awareness, it strikes me that this is Pat's form of anxiety, which can manifest in many shapes. So twenty-first century readers who call her nasty names may be missing the point, or lacking in sympathy.
Pat is also the only LMM heroine to live in a reasonably stable traditional family, with both parents and several brothers and sisters. Some family members come across a bit shadowy at times, but that's fine. I'm not concerned with Winnie and Joe, the eldest sister and brother, not having a bigger presence on the pages. My older sister and brother floated around the periphery of my life too, which didn't mean I loved them any the less. I listened to their doings, but they never impacted my personal story, which is where Pat is at with Joe and Winnie. Montgomery has made it clear that the two eldest siblings are living eventful lives of their own, but this is Pat's story. Sid, the brother next in age to her, gets more of a look-in, and the father, Long Alec seems like a decent chap.
A story like this needs strong support characters though, and this one has two. First is Judy Plum, the loving old Irish housekeeper who's been with the family since Dad was a small boy. She's a master storyteller who seems to know something juicy about everyone within a hundred mile radius. Her method of childcare would never be endorsed in any modern text books, as it includes stories of ghosts, murders and wicked fairy folk. The kids all 'get' her though, and enjoy the thrills of her tales. Judy says, 'If ye can't be believing anything, what fun are ye going to get out of life?' I love her.
There's always someone with a sad or dysfunctional family background in LMM stories, and this one belongs to Pat's friend Jingle, aka Hilary Gordon, my favourite character. This boy is an absolute legend. In terms of supportive family members and opportunities for fun, he has nothing going for him. His father is dead and his neglectful mother has dumped him with her brother-in-law, who's equally indifferent. But in terms of appreciation, beautiful heart and sheer good nature, he has everything going for him. He's one of literature's best geeks, who proves that a boy can be gentle and dreamy without sacrificing manliness and strength of character. And if somebody asks which Montgomery episode first springs to spring to mind from any series, I might even choose the occasion when his mother pays a flying visit to sort out his future, and he's thoroughly disillusioned. It wouldn't be the same story at all without Hilary.
The person who falls short for me is 'Mother.' Montgomery never knew her own birth mother, which makes me wonder if that's partly why Mrs Gardiner doesn't spring to life on the pages. She's like a mousy person who creeps around the house without a strong identity. Even Judy calls her 'Mrs Long Alec' rather than 'Mary'. But I didn't like Mother after an episode where Pat was caught dancing around outside in the nude (yeah, truly). The family devises a punishment which a loving mother should never have gone along with. You'll see if you read it. From then on I saw her as not just a wimp but a cruel wimp, the worst sort. Even though we're supposed to think she was a wonderful mother, we are told told and not shown. I'm sorry, Lucy Maud Montgomery, but I hardly liked her any better than I liked Jingle's mother, who was a callous cow, but at least she was a cow with colour.
On the whole, it's great to read a family story full of such magic. It's not the obvious magic of Harry Potter stories, but the sort of hidden, subtle, everyday magic that could fill any of our lives, such as psychic cats, subtle atmosphere changes, and the effect of ravishing beauty and great emotion, not to mention legends of kelpies, leprechauns and other fairy folk.
But most of all, how liberating to come across a heroine full of such enthusiasm for what others consider mundane work, who proves that running a household isn't demeaning but just another valid life option for people who genuinely appreciate the lifestyle. I loved seeing the usual ending scenario turned on its head. In many stories, a girl gets an opportunity to spread her wings, leave the family nest and meet the wide world head-on. But it doesn't have to be that way if there's a better, humbler fit. Pat was nudged out of the nest to spread her wings grudgingly, but expands with joy when circumstances enable her to return home. And that makes me happy enough to give the story full marks.
If you're a fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery, you'd have to be living under a rock not to know that several readers throughout the decades have called Pat Gardiner her worst heroine, but to me she's the best! While favourites like Anne and Emily are easy to admire but pretty unreachable, Pat is the sort of girl anyone can aspire to be. She doesn't have their same drive to excel, but her special talent is simply the ability to love things and people extra hard, including her family home Silver Bush. Other than that she's quite content to be ordinary, with just a few close friends, average intelligence and no burning ambition. To me, that makes her a breath of fresh air in a world of self-promotion.
No Montgomery heroine can escape their own brand of intensity though, and it's the nature of Pat's that make detractors call her silly. She loves things so hard that she can't bear change of any sort, from the chopping down of trees, to people leaving the family nest, to her dad shaving off his moustache. We can guess from the start that she'll be in for one letdown after another, since change is inevitable. The episodes are structured in such a way that one looming change after another threatens Pat's security, until they're either diverted or prove to be not so bad. Except for the few that are heartbreaking. In our era of mental health awareness, it strikes me that this is Pat's form of anxiety, which can manifest in many shapes. So twenty-first century readers who call her nasty names may be missing the point, or lacking in sympathy.
Pat is also the only LMM heroine to live in a reasonably stable traditional family, with both parents and several brothers and sisters. Some family members come across a bit shadowy at times, but that's fine. I'm not concerned with Winnie and Joe, the eldest sister and brother, not having a bigger presence on the pages. My older sister and brother floated around the periphery of my life too, which didn't mean I loved them any the less. I listened to their doings, but they never impacted my personal story, which is where Pat is at with Joe and Winnie. Montgomery has made it clear that the two eldest siblings are living eventful lives of their own, but this is Pat's story. Sid, the brother next in age to her, gets more of a look-in, and the father, Long Alec seems like a decent chap.
A story like this needs strong support characters though, and this one has two. First is Judy Plum, the loving old Irish housekeeper who's been with the family since Dad was a small boy. She's a master storyteller who seems to know something juicy about everyone within a hundred mile radius. Her method of childcare would never be endorsed in any modern text books, as it includes stories of ghosts, murders and wicked fairy folk. The kids all 'get' her though, and enjoy the thrills of her tales. Judy says, 'If ye can't be believing anything, what fun are ye going to get out of life?' I love her.
There's always someone with a sad or dysfunctional family background in LMM stories, and this one belongs to Pat's friend Jingle, aka Hilary Gordon, my favourite character. This boy is an absolute legend. In terms of supportive family members and opportunities for fun, he has nothing going for him. His father is dead and his neglectful mother has dumped him with her brother-in-law, who's equally indifferent. But in terms of appreciation, beautiful heart and sheer good nature, he has everything going for him. He's one of literature's best geeks, who proves that a boy can be gentle and dreamy without sacrificing manliness and strength of character. And if somebody asks which Montgomery episode first springs to spring to mind from any series, I might even choose the occasion when his mother pays a flying visit to sort out his future, and he's thoroughly disillusioned. It wouldn't be the same story at all without Hilary.
The person who falls short for me is 'Mother.' Montgomery never knew her own birth mother, which makes me wonder if that's partly why Mrs Gardiner doesn't spring to life on the pages. She's like a mousy person who creeps around the house without a strong identity. Even Judy calls her 'Mrs Long Alec' rather than 'Mary'. But I didn't like Mother after an episode where Pat was caught dancing around outside in the nude (yeah, truly). The family devises a punishment which a loving mother should never have gone along with. You'll see if you read it. From then on I saw her as not just a wimp but a cruel wimp, the worst sort. Even though we're supposed to think she was a wonderful mother, we are told told and not shown. I'm sorry, Lucy Maud Montgomery, but I hardly liked her any better than I liked Jingle's mother, who was a callous cow, but at least she was a cow with colour.
On the whole, it's great to read a family story full of such magic. It's not the obvious magic of Harry Potter stories, but the sort of hidden, subtle, everyday magic that could fill any of our lives, such as psychic cats, subtle atmosphere changes, and the effect of ravishing beauty and great emotion, not to mention legends of kelpies, leprechauns and other fairy folk.
But most of all, how liberating to come across a heroine full of such enthusiasm for what others consider mundane work, who proves that running a household isn't demeaning but just another valid life option for people who genuinely appreciate the lifestyle. I loved seeing the usual ending scenario turned on its head. In many stories, a girl gets an opportunity to spread her wings, leave the family nest and meet the wide world head-on. But it doesn't have to be that way if there's a better, humbler fit. Pat was nudged out of the nest to spread her wings grudgingly, but expands with joy when circumstances enable her to return home. And that makes me happy enough to give the story full marks.
May 28, 2018
This is such a sweet innocent book about growing up and friendship! <3
June 28, 2025
جینگلللل🥹❤️
August 24, 2021
I just reread this, probably for the first time since being a teenager, or at least in my early 20s. I was curious what I'd think of it now...
I still get a cozy feeling from it. Part of that is because of the strong ties you get to a book when you read it in the impressionable mid teen years! And part of it was the beautiful descriptive writing. Yes, I still find it lovely. Though perhaps I'm more aware of its sadness than before.
I do now see a few shortcomings too, though. Pat and Judy Plum, and perhaps Jingle, are the only fleshed-out characters in the book. We are told that all of Pat's family is precious to her, but they seem a little shadowy as people. I realized that I went half the book without any clear idea of whether Pat's brother Joe was a small boy or a strapping teen. Even Bets, Pat's very best friend, has hardly any dialogue and seems no more than a beautiful wraith.
That said, Pat herself and the cook/maid/second mother Judy Plum are pretty vivid and enjoyable.
This book does beautifully capture the warmth of a happy home. And the nostalgia level is strong, for better or worse. This makes sense when you add in some context from L.M. Montgomery's own life.
The Pat books were written later in her life, when she was caring for a mentally ill husband and trying to do the best she could as a minister's wife, far from her beloved PEI. I think that she felt like a shadow of her former self, and these later books were an outlet for her terrible homesickness. The tragedy of L.M. Montgomery's life is that she didn't get the secure and stable home that most of her heroines end up with. Perhaps this is why she writes so poignantly about, what was for her, the unattainable.
I still get a cozy feeling from it. Part of that is because of the strong ties you get to a book when you read it in the impressionable mid teen years! And part of it was the beautiful descriptive writing. Yes, I still find it lovely. Though perhaps I'm more aware of its sadness than before.
I do now see a few shortcomings too, though. Pat and Judy Plum, and perhaps Jingle, are the only fleshed-out characters in the book. We are told that all of Pat's family is precious to her, but they seem a little shadowy as people. I realized that I went half the book without any clear idea of whether Pat's brother Joe was a small boy or a strapping teen. Even Bets, Pat's very best friend, has hardly any dialogue and seems no more than a beautiful wraith.
That said, Pat herself and the cook/maid/second mother Judy Plum are pretty vivid and enjoyable.
This book does beautifully capture the warmth of a happy home. And the nostalgia level is strong, for better or worse. This makes sense when you add in some context from L.M. Montgomery's own life.
The Pat books were written later in her life, when she was caring for a mentally ill husband and trying to do the best she could as a minister's wife, far from her beloved PEI. I think that she felt like a shadow of her former self, and these later books were an outlet for her terrible homesickness. The tragedy of L.M. Montgomery's life is that she didn't get the secure and stable home that most of her heroines end up with. Perhaps this is why she writes so poignantly about, what was for her, the unattainable.
February 15, 2018
I relate to Pat very much. <3 This story is a gem.
January 19, 2020
Originally published in 1933, Pat of Silver Bush was one of L.M. Montgomery's later titles, and although not the equal of the classic
Anne of Green Gables
, or the romantic
The Blue Castle
, it nevertheless has a charm all its own. The story of Patricia Gardiner, whose attachment to her family home at Silver Bush runs deep, it is at heart an exploration of the nature of change - both good and bad.
"If I went to heaven I'd want to get back to Silver Bush," declares Pat at one point, and no statement better exemplifies the theme of the book. Devoted to her family, her home, and the domestic rituals of her childhood, Pat is resistant to any change. She mourns the loss of every tree on the property, secretly wonders why her mother would want another child (although she is soon reconciled to the existence of her new baby sister, Cuddles), and wishes passionately that she and her siblings could live together indefinitely at Silver Bush, rather than growing up, getting married, and moving apart.
This leitmotif serves to unify a book that is far more episodic in structure than many of Montgomery's other novels, and seems a reflection of the author's own conflicted feelings on the subject. It is, unfortunately, rather overdone during the first half of the book, with Pat almost a caricature, but the wonderful prose, and the humorous characterization of Judy Plum, are enough to carry the reader through to the second half, by which time Pat is somewhat matured.
Read for the first time as an adult, Pat of Silver Bush will probably never rank among my favorite Montgomery titles, and I cannot help but wonder whether it is just one of those books that needs to be read during youth, in order to achieve the full effect. However that may be, I did enjoy it, am glad to have filled in this hole in my Montgomery knowledge, and look forward to reading the sequel, Mistress Pat !
"If I went to heaven I'd want to get back to Silver Bush," declares Pat at one point, and no statement better exemplifies the theme of the book. Devoted to her family, her home, and the domestic rituals of her childhood, Pat is resistant to any change. She mourns the loss of every tree on the property, secretly wonders why her mother would want another child (although she is soon reconciled to the existence of her new baby sister, Cuddles), and wishes passionately that she and her siblings could live together indefinitely at Silver Bush, rather than growing up, getting married, and moving apart.
This leitmotif serves to unify a book that is far more episodic in structure than many of Montgomery's other novels, and seems a reflection of the author's own conflicted feelings on the subject. It is, unfortunately, rather overdone during the first half of the book, with Pat almost a caricature, but the wonderful prose, and the humorous characterization of Judy Plum, are enough to carry the reader through to the second half, by which time Pat is somewhat matured.
Read for the first time as an adult, Pat of Silver Bush will probably never rank among my favorite Montgomery titles, and I cannot help but wonder whether it is just one of those books that needs to be read during youth, in order to achieve the full effect. However that may be, I did enjoy it, am glad to have filled in this hole in my Montgomery knowledge, and look forward to reading the sequel, Mistress Pat !
June 24, 2009
Unlike many other LMM novels, I read this one for the first time in adulthood. I was apprehensive about how I would take it, not having fond childhood memories connected to it, but I turned out to love it quite a bit. It's probably not going to be one of my favourite LMM novels, because Pat as a heroine is a bit too passive, her main characteristic being resistance to change and so every conflict in the story being the result of outside forces. It's not as interesting as heroines who have a powerful drive for something inside them and so cause many of their life events themselves, for example Valancy, Emily or Anne. But I still find Pat an endearing and likeable heroine in her deep love of nature, things and people, and Judy Plum is a deliciously entertaining character. On the other hand, most other characters (with the exception of Jingle) are unusually shallowly characterised for a Montgomery book, and I often felt that Judy's cat and Jingle's dog showed more personality than most of Pat's family.
It's beautifully written, and while Pat in the end of the book seems almost as resistant to change as she is in the beginning, it seems she has learned a great deal about coping with it nevertheless and I really like how she grows during the story. I look forward to reading the sequel, Mistress Pat.
It's beautifully written, and while Pat in the end of the book seems almost as resistant to change as she is in the beginning, it seems she has learned a great deal about coping with it nevertheless and I really like how she grows during the story. I look forward to reading the sequel, Mistress Pat.
November 29, 2019
Ode estatica alla casa editrice Jo March per averci regalato la traduzione di un altro romanzo della Montgomery, la cui maggior parte della produzione letteraria è rimasta finora ingiustamente poco nota in Italia.
Pat come la più celebre Anne, ma anche Emily, Jane o Marigold è una ragazzina speciale che conquista subito il cuore del lettore qualsiasi sia la sua età (aspetto che in un romanzo di Montgomery viene relegato a dato puramente anagrafico). È l’esempio di come l’amore sia indispensabile nella crescita dei bambini per renderli umani migliori, di come i sentimenti agevolino le buone azioni e quanto una buona immaginazione lasciata a briglia sciolta tra campi assolati e giochi senza tempo, colonizzando con la fantasia la sfera luminescente della quotidianità, sia rilevante nella crescita.
Pat come la più celebre Anne, ma anche Emily, Jane o Marigold è una ragazzina speciale che conquista subito il cuore del lettore qualsiasi sia la sua età (aspetto che in un romanzo di Montgomery viene relegato a dato puramente anagrafico). È l’esempio di come l’amore sia indispensabile nella crescita dei bambini per renderli umani migliori, di come i sentimenti agevolino le buone azioni e quanto una buona immaginazione lasciata a briglia sciolta tra campi assolati e giochi senza tempo, colonizzando con la fantasia la sfera luminescente della quotidianità, sia rilevante nella crescita.
July 19, 2012
The Pat books were written within about ten years of Montgomery's death, in a time when her writing had become—whether due to fashion or to her own life difficulties—rather episodic and a little more prone to mistakes, as well as somewhat given to a dreamlike overuse of ellipses. Considering the hardships she suffered through her own depression and her husband's, the wonder is that there aren't more oddities in her novels of that last decade (which novels include Anne of Windy Poplars and Anne of Ingleside).
Pat's story, though difficult to get into at first due to lack of overarching plot, gradually gains the reader's full attention. Montgomery could create impressively lifelike and memorable characters with very simple strokes of the pen, and while she limited that to a chosen handful in this story—antagonist May Binnie is as flat as the paper she's written on—among that chosen handful are some of the best Maud ever imagined.
The crown jewel of these is Judy Plum, live-in housekeeper, family caretaker, and superb storyteller. Entrenched in the Gardiner family, practically a close aunt or second mother to Pat and the other children, she and her anecdotes carry the story, sometimes doing more for it than any other force. An artist in the kitchen, in her storytelling, and in her rug-hooking, Judy rivals any Montgomery character for pure fascination.
Pat Gardiner doesn't lose the limelight, however. Entirely lacking in ambition, she also lacks Anne Shirley's propensity for "scrapes" and, more importantly, Emily Starr's cool pride. She shares their love for beauty, however, and equals or supersedes both Anne's love for gardens and trees and Emily's devotion to home. Innocent and loving, she's a delight to read about despite her one key blindness.
That blindness relates to Hilary Gordon, Pat's dearest friend, also known as Jingle. Gilbert is perhaps the most popular of Montgomery's heroes, and Barney may be the most charismatic, but Jingle is superlatively wonderful. Good to the core of him, artistic and sweet, suffering and affectionate, he's got everything going for him. He even has a great little dog, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention McGinty as a character in his own right. Anyone who has ever had the honor of receiving a good dog's loyal adoration will recognize and love McGinty.
The scattered tales of Pat's childhood and teen years end with three major changes and a hope, and that was more than enough to make this reader take up the sequel.
Pat's story, though difficult to get into at first due to lack of overarching plot, gradually gains the reader's full attention. Montgomery could create impressively lifelike and memorable characters with very simple strokes of the pen, and while she limited that to a chosen handful in this story—antagonist May Binnie is as flat as the paper she's written on—among that chosen handful are some of the best Maud ever imagined.
The crown jewel of these is Judy Plum, live-in housekeeper, family caretaker, and superb storyteller. Entrenched in the Gardiner family, practically a close aunt or second mother to Pat and the other children, she and her anecdotes carry the story, sometimes doing more for it than any other force. An artist in the kitchen, in her storytelling, and in her rug-hooking, Judy rivals any Montgomery character for pure fascination.
Pat Gardiner doesn't lose the limelight, however. Entirely lacking in ambition, she also lacks Anne Shirley's propensity for "scrapes" and, more importantly, Emily Starr's cool pride. She shares their love for beauty, however, and equals or supersedes both Anne's love for gardens and trees and Emily's devotion to home. Innocent and loving, she's a delight to read about despite her one key blindness.
That blindness relates to Hilary Gordon, Pat's dearest friend, also known as Jingle. Gilbert is perhaps the most popular of Montgomery's heroes, and Barney may be the most charismatic, but Jingle is superlatively wonderful. Good to the core of him, artistic and sweet, suffering and affectionate, he's got everything going for him. He even has a great little dog, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention McGinty as a character in his own right. Anyone who has ever had the honor of receiving a good dog's loyal adoration will recognize and love McGinty.
The scattered tales of Pat's childhood and teen years end with three major changes and a hope, and that was more than enough to make this reader take up the sequel.
February 18, 2013
The first 115 pages can be summed up in 3 sentences - Pat hates change. Pat loves Silver Bush. Both of these are portrayed to the extreme. After that the story gets moving better as Pat gets older and her world expands a little. Pat is Anne at her worst with all talk of poetry and wonder and feeling everything deeply without Anne's humor and intelligence. The story also lacks a wide breadth of characters to take some of the focus off Pat's more annoying traits. Her siblings and parents are names on the page with very little filling out. Even her friends Jingle/Hillary and Bets play very secondary roles. The only character who equals Pat in development is Judy Plum. While the character of Judy is likable her words are written in such a heavy Irish accent it makes it difficult to read. I will read Mistress Pat but if I didn't love Montgomery's other books I doubt I'd want to spend any more time with Pat.
August 21, 2025
August 2025 reread:
Never have I enjoyed this book so much, and I already loved it. Each chapter evokes a sense of home, and I long to slip into Judy's kitchen for a "liddle bite" and her stories, to wander in Happiness and Jordan with Pat, Jingle, and Bets. Jingle's love for Pat is so sweet, much better and deeper, to me, than the love stories of Anne and Gilbert or Emily and Teddy.
I realize I am Emily crossed with Pat. I have Emily's moodiness and urge or write but also Pat's love of a home where she feels safe and peaceful.
***
2021 reread:
How the heck did LMM manage to create so many distinct atmospheres? How vastly different yet equally lovable are Green Gables, New Moon, Silver Bush, etc. Yet somehow I feel the strongest sense of home when reading about Silver Bush--another testament to LMM's genius that she can make me feel as attached to Silver Bush as Pat! I feel homesick for it even though I've never actually been there, and it does not exist.
If Anne's books make me think of warm gold and Emily's of deep purple, Pat's are like light blue cotton--wholesome and comfortable.
Although, yes, Pat's resistance to change makes for a repetitive story, she is shown each time adapting to change with grace and optimism. And I don't see Pat as passive. When Cuddles is born, for instance, Pat pulls up everyone's seeds so Long Alec gets to choose the name. That is one of the sweetest parts in the book.
********
2010
I've never met a character like Judy Plum! I really love her, and even think in her vernacular to cheer myself up sometimes-doesn't that sound strange? :) I can identify with Pat wanting things to stay the same and don't consider this one of LMM's weaker works.
Never have I enjoyed this book so much, and I already loved it. Each chapter evokes a sense of home, and I long to slip into Judy's kitchen for a "liddle bite" and her stories, to wander in Happiness and Jordan with Pat, Jingle, and Bets. Jingle's love for Pat is so sweet, much better and deeper, to me, than the love stories of Anne and Gilbert or Emily and Teddy.
I realize I am Emily crossed with Pat. I have Emily's moodiness and urge or write but also Pat's love of a home where she feels safe and peaceful.
***
2021 reread:
How the heck did LMM manage to create so many distinct atmospheres? How vastly different yet equally lovable are Green Gables, New Moon, Silver Bush, etc. Yet somehow I feel the strongest sense of home when reading about Silver Bush--another testament to LMM's genius that she can make me feel as attached to Silver Bush as Pat! I feel homesick for it even though I've never actually been there, and it does not exist.
If Anne's books make me think of warm gold and Emily's of deep purple, Pat's are like light blue cotton--wholesome and comfortable.
Although, yes, Pat's resistance to change makes for a repetitive story, she is shown each time adapting to change with grace and optimism. And I don't see Pat as passive. When Cuddles is born, for instance, Pat pulls up everyone's seeds so Long Alec gets to choose the name. That is one of the sweetest parts in the book.
********
2010
I've never met a character like Judy Plum! I really love her, and even think in her vernacular to cheer myself up sometimes-doesn't that sound strange? :) I can identify with Pat wanting things to stay the same and don't consider this one of LMM's weaker works.
September 17, 2016
It took me about a quarter of this book to really get into it, because at first I didn't particularly care for Judy Plum, Pat herself wasn't very interesting, and the rest of the family seemed to be glossed over. The main interesting part of the narrative was Judy Plum's stories, but I wasn't sure how much I cared for them. But as soon as Hilary Gordon, "Jingle," entered the book, I fell in love with it just like the rest of Montgomery's novels. He made Pat into a real and interesting person, and he himself was complex and intriguing.
Pat's love for her house, Silver Bush, seemed unrealistic to me when she was little, but as she grew, I could understand it and sympathize with it more and more. And now I love Silver Bush fiercely just like Pat did. I enjoyed how Montgomery told the story of a whole family, including both parents and plenty of siblings---so different from Anne, Emily, and Jane. I enjoyed how Pat was her own unique person, but somehow she didn't seem as strongly developed as Anne and Emily...but then again, I still have the sequel to read! I loved her physical description---like an autumn chrysanthemum with an imperfect, but distinctive beauty.
As always, Montgomery wrote with strong sensory detail. And as I read farther, all the characters, major and minor, became so interesting and alive. This was a beautiful book to read on my way to Prince Edward Island!
Pat's love for her house, Silver Bush, seemed unrealistic to me when she was little, but as she grew, I could understand it and sympathize with it more and more. And now I love Silver Bush fiercely just like Pat did. I enjoyed how Montgomery told the story of a whole family, including both parents and plenty of siblings---so different from Anne, Emily, and Jane. I enjoyed how Pat was her own unique person, but somehow she didn't seem as strongly developed as Anne and Emily...but then again, I still have the sequel to read! I loved her physical description---like an autumn chrysanthemum with an imperfect, but distinctive beauty.
As always, Montgomery wrote with strong sensory detail. And as I read farther, all the characters, major and minor, became so interesting and alive. This was a beautiful book to read on my way to Prince Edward Island!
November 4, 2019
For some reason, I really resonated with the Pat of Silverbush books. They were realistic to me, and Pat has such a love of home and the familiar, and then there are so many unexpected twists and turns in the plot, like real life, that it was endearing.
Strangely enough, I actually enjoyed the part where she has a frightening fever and loses all of her hair. And then when it grows back in curly locks in a darker color, well, I was just fascinated by that detail.
There's just something so resonating in L.M. Montgomery's descriptions of home. I felt as if Pat's home was the place we all want to call home to: peach pies baking in the oven, outdoor Eden with trees shimmering in the wind, batches of newborn kittens tumbling about, and fresh linens blowing on the line.
In short, domestic bliss. And the ending of this book is pretty powerful to boot, considering what Pat overcomes regarding that dreamlike life.
In my opinion, the Pat books are right up there with the Anne series at the top of Montgomery's list of works.
Strangely enough, I actually enjoyed the part where she has a frightening fever and loses all of her hair. And then when it grows back in curly locks in a darker color, well, I was just fascinated by that detail.
There's just something so resonating in L.M. Montgomery's descriptions of home. I felt as if Pat's home was the place we all want to call home to: peach pies baking in the oven, outdoor Eden with trees shimmering in the wind, batches of newborn kittens tumbling about, and fresh linens blowing on the line.
In short, domestic bliss. And the ending of this book is pretty powerful to boot, considering what Pat overcomes regarding that dreamlike life.
In my opinion, the Pat books are right up there with the Anne series at the top of Montgomery's list of works.
January 30, 2018
Another Montgomery book down! I apologize in advance for this lengthy review...
General Thoughts:
To start, here's a little bio I put together of Pat, based on my musings of her type of character: As mentioned in the book, she has “French-English-Scotch-Irish-Quaker blood” (what a combo!). Most importantly, probably the first thing you should know, I believe, is that Pat loves things. Specifically she loves Silver Bush and anything connected to it. She loves many things found in nature. She loves people (dearly). And cats. And Pat is self-proclaimed “hopelessly Victorian” (take from that what you will).
For a while, when I would read L.M. Mongtomery's books, it seemed like each heroine I read about turned out to be my new favorite from all her books (first it was Anne that I fell in love with, then Emily, then Valancy, and most recently Jane – who at this moment still takes the cake). I cherished reading Pat's story, but this heroine didn't reel me in as some of the others have so easily done.
Regardless, I wouldn't have minded the satisfaction of knowing that there's a book out there called “Pat's House of Dreams” … just like the title of an Anne book I'm fond of. You'll know, once you read “Pat of Silver Bush” why I would desire to read a book of that title, but alas, it's not a real book. However, I can imagine just as good as the best of them – Pat and Anne, for example.
When I first started my reading of “Pat of Silver Bush”, I thought I'd have a running commentary on each chapter. This is now what I wish I'd have done for “Jane of Lantern Hill”, which I read a year ago (as I loved each and every chapter so intensely). Might as well not accidentally make the same mistake. I'll try to keep out the spoilers, in case you haven't read the book yet.
So here's my chapter-by-chapter notes... I hope you find them just a little bit witty...
Chapter 1: Introduces Pat
I'm not sure that I learned too much about Pat after chapter 1, as it seems I gleaned much more on Judy Plum. Maybe this is because Pat loves Judy so much. Judy appears to be the housekeeper at Silver Bush, I believe. Pat isn't an orphan, or anything like an orphan; so this is different. I think the last few pages of the chapter allowed me to see a bit more of Pat when she talked so vividly about the house cat, Gentleman Tom (who Judy says was “a bit particular who he spoke to” ). But Pat and I are certainly not on bosom friend level yet.
Chapter 2: Introduces Silver Bush
I'm seeing more of Anne Shirley in Pat now, particularly in the way she names all the places around Silver Bush. And she's only 7 at the moment? As usual, Montgomery has infused quite the imagination into this little girl's brain. Even more now, I'm seeing that little Pat has a terrible penchant for cats (it's ever-increasing).
And at last, one of my favorite details so far... “But there was one house in which there was never any light...an old white house among thick firs on the top of a hill to the southwest, two farms away from Silver Bush. It was a long, rather low house...Pat called it the Long Lonely House. It hadn't been lived in for years. Pat always felt so sorry for it, especially in the 'dim' when the lights sprang up in all the other houses over the countryside.” (Hello, this familiarity in Emily Byrd Starr. Hello, my Disappointed House.)
Chapter 3: Concerning Parsley Beds
Pat, Patsy, Patrica. This girl's family tree has me out of sorts. It appears she has a full family, complete with a father and a mother, siblings, – and yet another sibling on the way. So, she's not orphaned, half-orphaned, or been sent away to live with strange relatives. Where are you, Montgomery that I know?
Chapter 4: Sunday's Child
Still a little befuddled in finding that one extra spark from Montgomery. It feels like it's 80% her. I want 100%, stat.
Chapter 5: “What's in a Name?”
I just need a touch of tragedy...
Chapter 6: What Price Weddings?
Ah. I may have stumbled onto something. One sentence in particular contains dramatic and prophetic foreshadowing, perhaps? It remains to be seen. And an a different note, since I haven't mentioned it yet... I truly do love Judy Plum and her amazing stories. And her Irish lilt.
….
Chapter 10: A Maiden All Forlorn
At last! An orphan appears. Hopefully this is headed somewhere interesting.
Chapter 11: Dinner Is Served
Indeed, Jingle is a fine lad and an adequate new friend. Ahem. How I adore this line... “She and Jingle had one of those chummy laughs that ripen friendship.”
Chapter 12: Black Magic
McGinty is missing! That lovely little dog has up and gone off somewhere... I can't hardly stand the thought of it. And I'm not sure that even if I were to read the chapter a hundred times, I'd ever understand that twisted ending to the dilemma. (Caution to parents: This chapter takes place during Halloween, and Pat ends up visiting a local “witch”.)
Chapter 13: Company Manners
It's Christmas time now, and, oh, what a delightful what it is. Especially Jingle. How is it that I think that this is secretly a book about an orphan boy instead of his friend Pat? His story is what pulls at my heartstrings.
“[Norma:] 'We've got shutters on our house, too...ever so much greener than yours. You should just see our house. You haven't a veranda...or even a garage.'
'No. But we've got a graveyard,' said Pat triumphantly.
Norma was a bit floored. She couldn't deny the graveyard.”
Chapter 14: The Shadow of Fear
Pat reminds me of a miniature Anne Shirley, still. I love how she had to “run out in the twilight to tell the good news to the silver bush and the leafless maples.” And another favorite line: “Even in winter Silver Bush was lovely because of what it sheltered and hoped for.” This reminds me of my home.
Chapter 15: Elizabeth Happens
I love it when new friends enter the picture. Don't you?
Chapter 16: The Rescue of Pepper
No! Judy, don't tell me such things about Bets. I'll not hear of it.
“Sometimes we call each other Gertrude and Margaret. We are so sorry for our middle names because they are never used. We think they feel bad about it.”
Chapter 17: Judy Puts Her Foot Down
(Caution to parents: Pat misbehaves horridly. It involves bathing – in moonlight, not water.)
“'Pat!' said Aunt Edith, with forty exclamation points in her voice.”
….
Chapter 20: Shores of Romance
Oh! What an adventure Pat gets into now!
Chapter 21: What Would Judy Think of It?
“Uncle Robert calls her his Maiden Aunt behind her back and you can just see the capitals.”
Chapter 22: Three Daughters of One Race
Pat seems to be growing up well, putting away some of her childish ideals. Why, she's now turning 13? My, my. And she didn't even slap her relatives this time when they visited.
Chapter 23: Mock Sunshine
I love this line... “The Gordons had had a telephone put in at last and Jingle and Pat generally kept the wire from rusting.” Plus some bewitchingly beautiful news arrives... and yet... I have my doubts.
Chapter 24: Ashes to Ashes
Goodness, this is heart-breaking! My poor Jingle. For just as for Pat, he will always be Jingle to me – and by no other name can I call him.
Chapter 25: His Way Is on the Sea
So. It has been foreordained, a teacher is what Pat must grow into, whether she wanted a career or not.
Chapter 26: Gentleman Tom Sits on the Stairs
After experiencing some earthly trials, Judy gets to make the finalizing proclamation: “She isn't the child inny more. She'll never be the same again.” After all her trials though, Pat receives a bounteous reward, I daresay, in the end.
Chapter 27: Glamor of Youth
I love the idea of a “glory box” where you store all your sentimental treasures and souvenirs.
Chapter 28: Even as You and I
Concerning a potential suitor: “It was thrilling to discover that he liked cats and was not in the least annoyed when Bold-and-Bad rubbed against his best trousers and haired them.” (… AND HAIRED THEM!) One of the most unique lines in the book. And another favorite from this chapter, showing off some of Pat's fieriness?
“'I'm not quite senile yet,' said Pat.
Harris laughed.
'So it can scratch.'”
Chapter 29: April Magic
Oh, the sadness of it all! I would say it's the saddest chapter yet. However, the next chapter title warns of more tragedy, and I hardly don't know what to expect...
Chapter 30: One Shall Be Taken
This chapter certainly swiped away every bit of happiness, and it all came so out of the blue. And yet Montgomery still had to add a sense of humor to the occasion of mourning: “'That awful girl,' Mrs. Binnie always said when she told of it. 'She talked like a perfect heathen.'” … But on a serious note, anyone suffering from grief might be affected by this part of the story.
….
Chapter 32: Exile
A funny little description of Pat, now at college: “A bit proud.... A bit reserved.... A bit odd....” I like that bit of wording. Maybe it feels like me.
This was a great look into Pat's life at school, her interactions with Jingle, who may be her only friend there. But I love hearing about their trips home together on the weekend, and about how McGinty always makes sure to travel over to Silver Bush – always at the right time to see his master home.
Chapter 33: Fancy's Fool
These young gentlemen just don't know that they shouldn't speak of Silver Bush in that way. Of course, maybe they know now.
Chapter 34: “Let's Pretend”
Ah. We're back to the good old days, of Pat and Jingle wiling their precious time away together in the most charming of ways. What quirky remarks they share with each other, and yet they understand each other perfectly.
Chapter 35: Shadow and Sunshine
A very touching chapter, although I'd rather not talk of it and give away any of the plot here.
….
Chapter 39: The Chatelaine of Silver Bush
Ooh. He'll have her yet. What intriguing words, leaving me anxious to see what happens in the sequel.
And so... “Childhood was gone. The 'first fine rapture' of youth was gone.”
General Thoughts:
To start, here's a little bio I put together of Pat, based on my musings of her type of character: As mentioned in the book, she has “French-English-Scotch-Irish-Quaker blood” (what a combo!). Most importantly, probably the first thing you should know, I believe, is that Pat loves things. Specifically she loves Silver Bush and anything connected to it. She loves many things found in nature. She loves people (dearly). And cats. And Pat is self-proclaimed “hopelessly Victorian” (take from that what you will).
For a while, when I would read L.M. Mongtomery's books, it seemed like each heroine I read about turned out to be my new favorite from all her books (first it was Anne that I fell in love with, then Emily, then Valancy, and most recently Jane – who at this moment still takes the cake). I cherished reading Pat's story, but this heroine didn't reel me in as some of the others have so easily done.
Regardless, I wouldn't have minded the satisfaction of knowing that there's a book out there called “Pat's House of Dreams” … just like the title of an Anne book I'm fond of. You'll know, once you read “Pat of Silver Bush” why I would desire to read a book of that title, but alas, it's not a real book. However, I can imagine just as good as the best of them – Pat and Anne, for example.
When I first started my reading of “Pat of Silver Bush”, I thought I'd have a running commentary on each chapter. This is now what I wish I'd have done for “Jane of Lantern Hill”, which I read a year ago (as I loved each and every chapter so intensely). Might as well not accidentally make the same mistake. I'll try to keep out the spoilers, in case you haven't read the book yet.
So here's my chapter-by-chapter notes... I hope you find them just a little bit witty...
Chapter 1: Introduces Pat
I'm not sure that I learned too much about Pat after chapter 1, as it seems I gleaned much more on Judy Plum. Maybe this is because Pat loves Judy so much. Judy appears to be the housekeeper at Silver Bush, I believe. Pat isn't an orphan, or anything like an orphan; so this is different. I think the last few pages of the chapter allowed me to see a bit more of Pat when she talked so vividly about the house cat, Gentleman Tom (who Judy says was “a bit particular who he spoke to” ). But Pat and I are certainly not on bosom friend level yet.
Chapter 2: Introduces Silver Bush
I'm seeing more of Anne Shirley in Pat now, particularly in the way she names all the places around Silver Bush. And she's only 7 at the moment? As usual, Montgomery has infused quite the imagination into this little girl's brain. Even more now, I'm seeing that little Pat has a terrible penchant for cats (it's ever-increasing).
And at last, one of my favorite details so far... “But there was one house in which there was never any light...an old white house among thick firs on the top of a hill to the southwest, two farms away from Silver Bush. It was a long, rather low house...Pat called it the Long Lonely House. It hadn't been lived in for years. Pat always felt so sorry for it, especially in the 'dim' when the lights sprang up in all the other houses over the countryside.” (Hello, this familiarity in Emily Byrd Starr. Hello, my Disappointed House.)
Chapter 3: Concerning Parsley Beds
Pat, Patsy, Patrica. This girl's family tree has me out of sorts. It appears she has a full family, complete with a father and a mother, siblings, – and yet another sibling on the way. So, she's not orphaned, half-orphaned, or been sent away to live with strange relatives. Where are you, Montgomery that I know?
Chapter 4: Sunday's Child
Still a little befuddled in finding that one extra spark from Montgomery. It feels like it's 80% her. I want 100%, stat.
Chapter 5: “What's in a Name?”
I just need a touch of tragedy...
Chapter 6: What Price Weddings?
Ah. I may have stumbled onto something. One sentence in particular contains dramatic and prophetic foreshadowing, perhaps? It remains to be seen. And an a different note, since I haven't mentioned it yet... I truly do love Judy Plum and her amazing stories. And her Irish lilt.
….
Chapter 10: A Maiden All Forlorn
At last! An orphan appears. Hopefully this is headed somewhere interesting.
Chapter 11: Dinner Is Served
Indeed, Jingle is a fine lad and an adequate new friend. Ahem. How I adore this line... “She and Jingle had one of those chummy laughs that ripen friendship.”
Chapter 12: Black Magic
McGinty is missing! That lovely little dog has up and gone off somewhere... I can't hardly stand the thought of it. And I'm not sure that even if I were to read the chapter a hundred times, I'd ever understand that twisted ending to the dilemma. (Caution to parents: This chapter takes place during Halloween, and Pat ends up visiting a local “witch”.)
Chapter 13: Company Manners
It's Christmas time now, and, oh, what a delightful what it is. Especially Jingle. How is it that I think that this is secretly a book about an orphan boy instead of his friend Pat? His story is what pulls at my heartstrings.
“[Norma:] 'We've got shutters on our house, too...ever so much greener than yours. You should just see our house. You haven't a veranda...or even a garage.'
'No. But we've got a graveyard,' said Pat triumphantly.
Norma was a bit floored. She couldn't deny the graveyard.”
Chapter 14: The Shadow of Fear
Pat reminds me of a miniature Anne Shirley, still. I love how she had to “run out in the twilight to tell the good news to the silver bush and the leafless maples.” And another favorite line: “Even in winter Silver Bush was lovely because of what it sheltered and hoped for.” This reminds me of my home.
Chapter 15: Elizabeth Happens
I love it when new friends enter the picture. Don't you?
Chapter 16: The Rescue of Pepper
No! Judy, don't tell me such things about Bets. I'll not hear of it.
“Sometimes we call each other Gertrude and Margaret. We are so sorry for our middle names because they are never used. We think they feel bad about it.”
Chapter 17: Judy Puts Her Foot Down
(Caution to parents: Pat misbehaves horridly. It involves bathing – in moonlight, not water.)
“'Pat!' said Aunt Edith, with forty exclamation points in her voice.”
….
Chapter 20: Shores of Romance
Oh! What an adventure Pat gets into now!
Chapter 21: What Would Judy Think of It?
“Uncle Robert calls her his Maiden Aunt behind her back and you can just see the capitals.”
Chapter 22: Three Daughters of One Race
Pat seems to be growing up well, putting away some of her childish ideals. Why, she's now turning 13? My, my. And she didn't even slap her relatives this time when they visited.
Chapter 23: Mock Sunshine
I love this line... “The Gordons had had a telephone put in at last and Jingle and Pat generally kept the wire from rusting.” Plus some bewitchingly beautiful news arrives... and yet... I have my doubts.
Chapter 24: Ashes to Ashes
Goodness, this is heart-breaking! My poor Jingle. For just as for Pat, he will always be Jingle to me – and by no other name can I call him.
Chapter 25: His Way Is on the Sea
So. It has been foreordained, a teacher is what Pat must grow into, whether she wanted a career or not.
Chapter 26: Gentleman Tom Sits on the Stairs
After experiencing some earthly trials, Judy gets to make the finalizing proclamation: “She isn't the child inny more. She'll never be the same again.” After all her trials though, Pat receives a bounteous reward, I daresay, in the end.
Chapter 27: Glamor of Youth
I love the idea of a “glory box” where you store all your sentimental treasures and souvenirs.
Chapter 28: Even as You and I
Concerning a potential suitor: “It was thrilling to discover that he liked cats and was not in the least annoyed when Bold-and-Bad rubbed against his best trousers and haired them.” (… AND HAIRED THEM!) One of the most unique lines in the book. And another favorite from this chapter, showing off some of Pat's fieriness?
“'I'm not quite senile yet,' said Pat.
Harris laughed.
'So it can scratch.'”
Chapter 29: April Magic
Oh, the sadness of it all! I would say it's the saddest chapter yet. However, the next chapter title warns of more tragedy, and I hardly don't know what to expect...
Chapter 30: One Shall Be Taken
This chapter certainly swiped away every bit of happiness, and it all came so out of the blue. And yet Montgomery still had to add a sense of humor to the occasion of mourning: “'That awful girl,' Mrs. Binnie always said when she told of it. 'She talked like a perfect heathen.'” … But on a serious note, anyone suffering from grief might be affected by this part of the story.
….
Chapter 32: Exile
A funny little description of Pat, now at college: “A bit proud.... A bit reserved.... A bit odd....” I like that bit of wording. Maybe it feels like me.
This was a great look into Pat's life at school, her interactions with Jingle, who may be her only friend there. But I love hearing about their trips home together on the weekend, and about how McGinty always makes sure to travel over to Silver Bush – always at the right time to see his master home.
Chapter 33: Fancy's Fool
These young gentlemen just don't know that they shouldn't speak of Silver Bush in that way. Of course, maybe they know now.
Chapter 34: “Let's Pretend”
Ah. We're back to the good old days, of Pat and Jingle wiling their precious time away together in the most charming of ways. What quirky remarks they share with each other, and yet they understand each other perfectly.
Chapter 35: Shadow and Sunshine
A very touching chapter, although I'd rather not talk of it and give away any of the plot here.
….
Chapter 39: The Chatelaine of Silver Bush
Ooh. He'll have her yet. What intriguing words, leaving me anxious to see what happens in the sequel.
And so... “Childhood was gone. The 'first fine rapture' of youth was gone.”
January 6, 2021
Hvis man, som jeg, holder af Anne fra Grønnebakken, så slukker Pat of Silver Bush den samme tørst. Meget charmerende og kær og den dejligste form for eskapisme i en svær tid.
August 5, 2012
I was afraid to start this novel at first, even though I'm a great admirer of L.M. Montgomery's work. As a teen I had read all the Anne books, and I've reread a few in the series a few times since then. I have read Emily of New Moon, The Blue Castle, and Kilmeny of the Orchard. I did not enjoy Kilmeny at all, and whenever I read an L.M.M. novel that I've never read before I get a little scared that it's going to be like Kilmeny.
My first observation upon getting into the novel was the lack of depth given to many of the characters surrounding Pat. With the exception of Judy Plum, no one was an even remotely well-rounded character. Sid, whom Pat was so passionately attached to, so much so that she said he didn't need a wife, that she would take care of him forever and they would live at Silverbush forever, had little more than a few sentences given to him, and very little dialogue.
The same was true of Pat's parents, and her other siblings, and her best friend Bets. Jingle received a little bit more attention, but there were great gaps in his story.
It occurred to me that this story was written at a time when L.M.M.'s own sons were grown up, so she had the experience of raising children, and what it's like to be a mother, and to see firsthand how siblings interact with each other, but she still seems to write from her own childhood prespective of having been raised by neither parent, but by elderly grandparents, and having no siblings. It's as if she has no idea how parents/children/siblings relate to each other in the writing of Pat of Silverbush.
The ending was not satisfactory for me at all. I understand what L.M.M. was trying to say, that not all happy endings have to do with finding the love of your life. I also understand that L.M.M. herself became very attached and was very passionate about the homes she lived in in her lifetime. But for me there was something missing in the ending--not that she had to accept Jingle's love and give him hope for the future, but I guess just to not be so close-minded about her future prospects.
All in all, I enjoyed reading Pat of Silverbush, and I might try reading Mistress Pat at some point in the future, but I don't think it will be one of the L.M. Montgomery books that I will read multiple times.
My first observation upon getting into the novel was the lack of depth given to many of the characters surrounding Pat. With the exception of Judy Plum, no one was an even remotely well-rounded character. Sid, whom Pat was so passionately attached to, so much so that she said he didn't need a wife, that she would take care of him forever and they would live at Silverbush forever, had little more than a few sentences given to him, and very little dialogue.
The same was true of Pat's parents, and her other siblings, and her best friend Bets. Jingle received a little bit more attention, but there were great gaps in his story.
It occurred to me that this story was written at a time when L.M.M.'s own sons were grown up, so she had the experience of raising children, and what it's like to be a mother, and to see firsthand how siblings interact with each other, but she still seems to write from her own childhood prespective of having been raised by neither parent, but by elderly grandparents, and having no siblings. It's as if she has no idea how parents/children/siblings relate to each other in the writing of Pat of Silverbush.
The ending was not satisfactory for me at all. I understand what L.M.M. was trying to say, that not all happy endings have to do with finding the love of your life. I also understand that L.M.M. herself became very attached and was very passionate about the homes she lived in in her lifetime. But for me there was something missing in the ending--not that she had to accept Jingle's love and give him hope for the future, but I guess just to not be so close-minded about her future prospects.
All in all, I enjoyed reading Pat of Silverbush, and I might try reading Mistress Pat at some point in the future, but I don't think it will be one of the L.M. Montgomery books that I will read multiple times.
January 15, 2015
I've fallen in love with Montgomery's books all over again. Montgomery's fictional world is beautiful, her heroines are so endearing and Montgomery's places vibrates with love and life. No one can build a home as wonderful as Montgomery's home, made of words.
And "Pat of Silver Bush" is a novel about a home. About belonging to a place, loving a place and holding on to a place as the main source to one's identity. Pat does not only think of Silver Bush as her home, to her it is the entire world.
Pat isn't adventurous or ambitious. She is rather simple and desperately clings to her love of the familiar. She considers change evil and doesn't want anything to change. Not now, not ever. Weddings are frightening to her, because it takes her relatives away, and every time something wonderful happens it is tinged with a hint of melancholia, because Pat knows that even wonderful changes is a change nonetheless.
There's a huge difference between a home and a home, and that's what Montgomery emphasizes. Hillary builds houses, but he can't build a house for Pat, as she simply wants a home. And Silver Bush is that home – Silver Bush is in fact a description of the idealized home where we all want to live. A place where pies are constantly in the oven, where myths and legends are a part of the legacy and where a large family join together in a joyful talk over dinner. This is a novel of domestic bliss.
And "Pat of Silver Bush" is a novel about a home. About belonging to a place, loving a place and holding on to a place as the main source to one's identity. Pat does not only think of Silver Bush as her home, to her it is the entire world.
Pat isn't adventurous or ambitious. She is rather simple and desperately clings to her love of the familiar. She considers change evil and doesn't want anything to change. Not now, not ever. Weddings are frightening to her, because it takes her relatives away, and every time something wonderful happens it is tinged with a hint of melancholia, because Pat knows that even wonderful changes is a change nonetheless.
There's a huge difference between a home and a home, and that's what Montgomery emphasizes. Hillary builds houses, but he can't build a house for Pat, as she simply wants a home. And Silver Bush is that home – Silver Bush is in fact a description of the idealized home where we all want to live. A place where pies are constantly in the oven, where myths and legends are a part of the legacy and where a large family join together in a joyful talk over dinner. This is a novel of domestic bliss.
September 6, 2018
Pat loves her home of Silver Bush: the kittens that are forever infesting the barnyard, the secret field she discovered with her brother, the trees that have stories to tell, and--of course--her family.
She hates change. But change is forever coming. In the form of a baby sister, an aunt's wedding, a strange boy from next door who rescues Pat from being utterly lost at night. It's funny, how change can ultimately become part of life and part of home. All ultimately part of Silver Bush.
Even Pat is forever changing. But one thing--she vows--will never change. She will never leave or stop loving Silver Bush.
I've read a great many L.M. Montgomery books over the years. This one, however, I had yet to read when my mother and I had the pleasure this summer of trekking our way to Prince Edward Island for a week of "all things Anne." Naturally, one of our very first stops turned out to be at Silver Bush--the house where the author was married. A home that belonged to the author's relatives and which she loved to visit as a child. The Pat books, which had been on my to-read list for a number of years now, immediately leaped to the forefront, and I quite enjoyed this first episode. Pat is full of love, stubbornness, and passion.
Very much looking forward to seeing where all of those traits get her in Book 2.
She hates change. But change is forever coming. In the form of a baby sister, an aunt's wedding, a strange boy from next door who rescues Pat from being utterly lost at night. It's funny, how change can ultimately become part of life and part of home. All ultimately part of Silver Bush.
Even Pat is forever changing. But one thing--she vows--will never change. She will never leave or stop loving Silver Bush.
I've read a great many L.M. Montgomery books over the years. This one, however, I had yet to read when my mother and I had the pleasure this summer of trekking our way to Prince Edward Island for a week of "all things Anne." Naturally, one of our very first stops turned out to be at Silver Bush--the house where the author was married. A home that belonged to the author's relatives and which she loved to visit as a child. The Pat books, which had been on my to-read list for a number of years now, immediately leaped to the forefront, and I quite enjoyed this first episode. Pat is full of love, stubbornness, and passion.
Very much looking forward to seeing where all of those traits get her in Book 2.
May 25, 2021
That Judy! She's a wonder and comic relief! This is not altogether a happy story, there is death, grief, disappointment, suffering and occasionally stupid choices, but there is always Silver Bush, looming bright and comforting, stretching its arms to welcome you. Pat loves her place to pieces, and hates change (guilty🙊) but change does happen and she has to learn to sail her ship as best as she can. The book spans 11 years I think 🤔 (my math🙈) and so we get to see Pat growing up nicely I suppose though she makes a mess of things right at the end of the book (and a few other times between the pages of the book but as she deals with them appropriately I won't blame her) but I hope she'll fix that somehow in the sequel.
On a brighter note, there is good laughter, many, many cats, good, faithful dogs, healthy imagination and a good deal of Judy wisdom 😃.
On a brighter note, there is good laughter, many, many cats, good, faithful dogs, healthy imagination and a good deal of Judy wisdom 😃.
September 15, 2008
I loved Pat of Silver Bush! Most of the "big" stories and series by L. M. Montgomery, I've grown up with, but Marigold, Jane, and Pat were somehow passed by in my girlhood reading lists. :) It's a delight to find that Maud's books are as enchanting to discover at nearly 20 as they were at 8.
This one was brimming with folklore in a way that gave it a slightly different feel from the others I've read. There was perhaps more of an old-time or backwoods feel--especially in the character of Judy Plum--than in the others, despite the fact that this one was set in the 1920s when that world was already growing old and disappearing.
Anyway. It was a joy to read. :)
Edit: I've just read over the other goodreaders' reviews, and I say! Poor Pat doesn't seem to be the most beloved of Maud's heroines by any stretch. Just for the record, I did not find her boring, and think she was only as selfish as most girls her age are, and that she had matured by the end of the book, though of course, at 18 one is still allowed to be quite a child. :) The love of Home really, really resonated with me.
This one was brimming with folklore in a way that gave it a slightly different feel from the others I've read. There was perhaps more of an old-time or backwoods feel--especially in the character of Judy Plum--than in the others, despite the fact that this one was set in the 1920s when that world was already growing old and disappearing.
Anyway. It was a joy to read. :)
Edit: I've just read over the other goodreaders' reviews, and I say! Poor Pat doesn't seem to be the most beloved of Maud's heroines by any stretch. Just for the record, I did not find her boring, and think she was only as selfish as most girls her age are, and that she had matured by the end of the book, though of course, at 18 one is still allowed to be quite a child. :) The love of Home really, really resonated with me.
October 6, 2024
Another sweet book by L.M. Montgomery. This was my first time reading it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of it didn’t feel as “timeless” because they started talking about pajamas and bobbed hair and such. Lol. I’m so ready to jump into the sequel, Mistress Pat, but unfortunately (or fortunately??) a book I’ve had on hold on cloud Library for a long time just came available so I guess I better read it first! I do think Pat of Silverbush will probably join the ranks of my Montgomery rereads that are constantly going.
2nd reading - I love it. Simply love it. I also think the way Pat loved her home, caring for it, loving and caring for the people in it, in such physical tangible ways was inspiring.
2nd reading - I love it. Simply love it. I also think the way Pat loved her home, caring for it, loving and caring for the people in it, in such physical tangible ways was inspiring.
November 16, 2014
No Anne or Emily, but damn do I love some L.M.
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