What do You think about Pat Of Silver Bush (1988)?
One moment this seemed like a 1-star book, the next like a 4-star, so I give it something in between. There are too many stories in it about witches, fairies, and the like. Even though the witch is not a real one, Judy, the maid (who is more like a mother), encourages Pat to think witches and fairies are real and fascinating. (Witches are real, but not people to fool around with.) Some of that fades as the book goes on, and I enjoyed the beautiful, quaint descriptions of the people and outdoors and the love of home (although sometimes Pat almost idolizes home). Then, there are a couple of brief romances in the book, which are pretty realistic and innocent. However, she should have been led by her parents and Judy to be more careful.So, I liked parts of it, but not all. Here are a couple of quotes I like: "No matter what dreadful things happened at least there were still cats in the world.""How I loved to wake up in the night and feel that my husband and my children were well and safe and warm, sleeping peacefully. Life hasn't anything better to offer a woman than that, Patsy."
—Melissa
I don't know how I've never read this, since I love L.M. Montgomery's books. It did take a bit of doing to get into the story at first...Judy's accent is strong, and she tells way too many stories at the very first. Plus, Pat at the beginning was a much younger protagonist than I usually like to read about.However, the struggling-through-the-beginning part was worth it because I really loved the book. Such beauty, and such gorgeous descriptions of P.E.I. farm and country life...just like when I read an "Anne" book, I want to immediately move there.
—Kiirsi Hellewell
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.
—Lesley
