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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Fancy review here: https://bookdevotions.com/book-reviews-april-2022
First off, I just want to say that I do not like the name of the main character, Pat. And I don't really like the name of her family farm, Silver Bush. The names in this book were not great for me. But the story was!
Pat Gardiner lives with her family on Prince Edward Island, and their farm is called Silver Bush. Pat is in LOVE with Silver Bush because it's her home, where she's loved and where she belongs. She doesn't want anything about her home or her life to change. And, of course, everything does!
When the story opens, Pat is a child of...8 years old? I can't remember. By the time the book ends, she's a mature teen. So, this is technically a coming-of-age novel, but it has the innocent, G-rated vibe of a children's book. Very similar to Anne of Green Gables. This story is brimful of humorous childhood antics and family/social drama, just like Anne. It also isn't afraid to venture into the sensitive areas of loss and grief—even the common losses that we feel when our world changes (naturally, as it should).
Like Anne, Pat is dreamy and fiercely loyal to her family and friends. Like Italian-level loyal. Like "you are dead to me if you insult my family." I know A LOT of people like this, so I was like, "I get you, Pat." Pat says herself that she has no great talent except the talent of loving the people and places that God has given her to love, and she has no greater ambition in life than to stay at Silver Bush forever and take care of the house and anyone who lives in it. And, my oh my, isn't that something? We moderns scoff and say, "That's no way to spend your life, Pat." We say it with our own shriveled hearts and closed fists. I am modern, and I am trying to learn a thing or two from Pat.
Judy Plum has got to be one of the best characters that Montgomery created. She's the family housekeeper (and nurse, cook, etc.) Montgomery gives her a Scottish brogue, so reading her speeches can be slow going due to the heavy dialect-spelling, but it sure does give her tons of flavor. Spicy flavor. Oh, oh! And after ye be readin' about good ol' Judy, ye'll niver be th' same agin.
This book is an ODE to nature. Montgomery writes flawlessly about the natural world. It makes you want to kiss some buttercups and weave a crown of daisies for your head. This was one of the things that I found most appealing about this book, really.
And I would just like to add...without spoilers...POOR JINGLE!!!!!!! I might even love him more than Gilbert. There, I said it.
First off, I just want to say that I do not like the name of the main character, Pat. And I don't really like the name of her family farm, Silver Bush. The names in this book were not great for me. But the story was!
Pat Gardiner lives with her family on Prince Edward Island, and their farm is called Silver Bush. Pat is in LOVE with Silver Bush because it's her home, where she's loved and where she belongs. She doesn't want anything about her home or her life to change. And, of course, everything does!
When the story opens, Pat is a child of...8 years old? I can't remember. By the time the book ends, she's a mature teen. So, this is technically a coming-of-age novel, but it has the innocent, G-rated vibe of a children's book. Very similar to Anne of Green Gables. This story is brimful of humorous childhood antics and family/social drama, just like Anne. It also isn't afraid to venture into the sensitive areas of loss and grief—even the common losses that we feel when our world changes (naturally, as it should).
Like Anne, Pat is dreamy and fiercely loyal to her family and friends. Like Italian-level loyal. Like "you are dead to me if you insult my family." I know A LOT of people like this, so I was like, "I get you, Pat." Pat says herself that she has no great talent except the talent of loving the people and places that God has given her to love, and she has no greater ambition in life than to stay at Silver Bush forever and take care of the house and anyone who lives in it. And, my oh my, isn't that something? We moderns scoff and say, "That's no way to spend your life, Pat." We say it with our own shriveled hearts and closed fists. I am modern, and I am trying to learn a thing or two from Pat.
Judy Plum has got to be one of the best characters that Montgomery created. She's the family housekeeper (and nurse, cook, etc.) Montgomery gives her a Scottish brogue, so reading her speeches can be slow going due to the heavy dialect-spelling, but it sure does give her tons of flavor. Spicy flavor. Oh, oh! And after ye be readin' about good ol' Judy, ye'll niver be th' same agin.
This book is an ODE to nature. Montgomery writes flawlessly about the natural world. It makes you want to kiss some buttercups and weave a crown of daisies for your head. This was one of the things that I found most appealing about this book, really.
And I would just like to add...without spoilers...POOR JINGLE!!!!!!! I might even love him more than Gilbert. There, I said it.
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How strange to read this book again, after so many years. I do still love it, but it has become part of a strange country — one so far before tech and so mired in marriages. Still. Judy’s stories are hilarious, Gentleman Tom and Bold and Bad and Squedunk the cats — what excellent names for cats! And beautiful Silver Bush are still magical.
I'm actually kind of vague on this book, and the maybe 20 other non-Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery books that I read over a decade ago---but I do know I realllly liked them. I wonder what it would be like to read one now. I'm guessing my 11 yr old self would come flooding back to me in a cringe-inducing way.
A beautiful 'coming-of-age' story. As with a lot of Montgomery's books, there isn't necessarily a very defined plot; it's more of a character-oriented story. It's basically just about Pat's life, and the story is made up of the experiences she has growing up, following her from age seven to eighteen.
This plot is hard to summarise, because so many things happen, yet at the same time, nothing much happens. That's actually one of the things I like about it. The charm of this book is not in a complex plot or suspenseful climax, but in the richness of its words (seriously, L.M Montgomery could write anything in a way that made it beautiful. I'd read her grocery lists!) and the vivid and lovable characters. There is Pat Gardiner - the whimsical dreamer who loves everything a little bit too hard, and fears nothing more than change; Judy Plum - her story-telling Irish housekeeper/second mother, who claims to be part witch; Jingle - the endearingly nerdy orphan boy down the road; Bets - Pat's sweet, poetry-loving best friend; and Silver Bush - her beloved home, which is almost a character in itself...
"It was such a loyal old house...always faithful to those who loved it. You felt it was your friend as soon as you stepped into it." (p.335)
Such a great comfort read. L.M. Montgomery is my favourite author ever (I think I mentioned above that I would read her grocery lists. I meant it) and I love the unique way she has of crafting words. I will say that I didn't love this book quite as much as I loved the Anne of Green Gables or Emily of New Moon series, but I still found Pat's story to be enjoyable in its own way. It sings of the joy and contentment in having a place to call home. Pat has lived at Silver Bush for her entire life, and she loves it fiercely. I lived in a few different houses as a kid, so the idea of having just one place that has always been home and holds all of your memories seemed really beautiful.
There were so many good parts of this book. Like the chapter where the Gardiner family can't agree on what to name their new baby so they all plant seeds and whoever's sprouts first gets to name it. Or the part where she gets in trouble for dancing naked in the moonlight (of all things!). Or the heart-wrenching bittersweetness when her favourite aunt gets married and moves away, and her brother goes off to be a sailor. Or Pat and Bets's instant friendship when they learn that they have the same birthday (which was so cute and realistic, because kids do that all the time!) Or literally any chapter with Jingle in it, because he was my absolute favourite (and seriously, if he and Pat don't get together in the next book I am going to cry). I also loved that he had a dog called McGinty. I don't know why, but for some reason that seems like the cutest name ever for a dog, doesn't it?
I will say that some chapters weren't entirely necessary and a little bit long. Also Pat's siblings were pretty under-developed compared to some of the other characters. And I found it super weird that the children in that family were told that their baby sister came from the parsley bed. How did they believe that? Wouldn't they have noticed their mother getting bigger? And there was a certain chapter that was really, really, really sad, and I didn't think needed to happen, but I won't spoil it.
In spite of those small things, overall I really liked this book. I wouldn't say it's Montgomery's best, but I'd still recommend it to any Anne of Green Gables fan.
Favourite quote:
“Ye’ve only got to live one day at a time, darlint. One can always be living just one more day.”
~ Judy Plum
Also, side note: I bought this book second hand, online. It was a very old edition, and there was this handwritten message on the inside page addressed to a girl named Ellie, in 1941, and signed by an 'Auntie Pie'. It's so cool to think that some other girl read this story in 1941 and here I am reading it in 2017. I love the idea that these pages have been turned by so many other hands, and these words taken in by so many other eyes and souls. It makes me wonder all sorts of things about Ellie and Auntie Pie. What did Ellie think of this story? Did she laugh at the same parts I did? What was Auntie Pie like, and how did she get that nickname? It's like this book holds more stories than just Pat's. It contains traces of Ellie's, and now of mine. I love that.
This plot is hard to summarise, because so many things happen, yet at the same time, nothing much happens. That's actually one of the things I like about it. The charm of this book is not in a complex plot or suspenseful climax, but in the richness of its words (seriously, L.M Montgomery could write anything in a way that made it beautiful. I'd read her grocery lists!) and the vivid and lovable characters. There is Pat Gardiner - the whimsical dreamer who loves everything a little bit too hard, and fears nothing more than change; Judy Plum - her story-telling Irish housekeeper/second mother, who claims to be part witch; Jingle - the endearingly nerdy orphan boy down the road; Bets - Pat's sweet, poetry-loving best friend; and Silver Bush - her beloved home, which is almost a character in itself...
"It was such a loyal old house...always faithful to those who loved it. You felt it was your friend as soon as you stepped into it." (p.335)
Such a great comfort read. L.M. Montgomery is my favourite author ever (I think I mentioned above that I would read her grocery lists. I meant it) and I love the unique way she has of crafting words. I will say that I didn't love this book quite as much as I loved the Anne of Green Gables or Emily of New Moon series, but I still found Pat's story to be enjoyable in its own way. It sings of the joy and contentment in having a place to call home. Pat has lived at Silver Bush for her entire life, and she loves it fiercely. I lived in a few different houses as a kid, so the idea of having just one place that has always been home and holds all of your memories seemed really beautiful.
There were so many good parts of this book. Like the chapter where the Gardiner family can't agree on what to name their new baby so they all plant seeds and whoever's sprouts first gets to name it. Or the part where she gets in trouble for dancing naked in the moonlight (of all things!). Or the heart-wrenching bittersweetness when her favourite aunt gets married and moves away, and her brother goes off to be a sailor. Or Pat and Bets's instant friendship when they learn that they have the same birthday (which was so cute and realistic, because kids do that all the time!) Or literally any chapter with Jingle in it, because he was my absolute favourite (and seriously, if he and Pat don't get together in the next book I am going to cry). I also loved that he had a dog called McGinty. I don't know why, but for some reason that seems like the cutest name ever for a dog, doesn't it?
I will say that some chapters weren't entirely necessary and a little bit long. Also Pat's siblings were pretty under-developed compared to some of the other characters. And I found it super weird that the children in that family were told that their baby sister came from the parsley bed. How did they believe that? Wouldn't they have noticed their mother getting bigger? And there was a certain chapter that was really, really, really sad, and I didn't think needed to happen, but I won't spoil it.
In spite of those small things, overall I really liked this book. I wouldn't say it's Montgomery's best, but I'd still recommend it to any Anne of Green Gables fan.
Favourite quote:
“Ye’ve only got to live one day at a time, darlint. One can always be living just one more day.”
~ Judy Plum
Also, side note: I bought this book second hand, online. It was a very old edition, and there was this handwritten message on the inside page addressed to a girl named Ellie, in 1941, and signed by an 'Auntie Pie'. It's so cool to think that some other girl read this story in 1941 and here I am reading it in 2017. I love the idea that these pages have been turned by so many other hands, and these words taken in by so many other eyes and souls. It makes me wonder all sorts of things about Ellie and Auntie Pie. What did Ellie think of this story? Did she laugh at the same parts I did? What was Auntie Pie like, and how did she get that nickname? It's like this book holds more stories than just Pat's. It contains traces of Ellie's, and now of mine. I love that.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this so much! I'm pretty sure I read it as a girl, at the height of my [b:Anne of Green Gables|8127|Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)|L.M. Montgomery|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1615094578l/8127._SY75_.jpg|3464264] obsession, but I didn't remember much of anything about it. It's really charming and fun though, with lots to laugh at and lots to touch the heart. Home-loving Pat Gardiner is a lovely heroine - I liked seeing her grow up. And how did I ever forget the family's loyal, loving Irish housekeeper, Judy Plum? What a great character - so hilarious and wise. Pat's sweet friend Hilary "Jingle" Gordon is adorable - I love him. L.M. Montgomery was good at creating childhood friends that grow up to be dreamy men her heroines want to marry.
Humor, warmth, a little sadness and a lot of hope and beauty - this was just the kind of cozy, sweet-natured book I was in the mood for. Thanks as always, Lucy Maud.
Humor, warmth, a little sadness and a lot of hope and beauty - this was just the kind of cozy, sweet-natured book I was in the mood for. Thanks as always, Lucy Maud.
Pat Of Silver Push is my least favorite book series of Montgomery's. It's dark , and Pat doesn't get any real happiness without being disappointed in almost everything first.
Pat does not like change. That’s what this book is all about - a girl who fiercely loves her family and her home exactly the way it is. And any speck of change results in an end of the world crisis. For myself, never having had a home for more than a few years in a row, made this a little hard to relate to. And Pat’s emotional displays got a little over the top and annoying. But the supporting characters offer a lot the the story. Judy has to be my ultimate favourite old maid servant L.M. has ever created. And Jingle is also a favourite, shame on Pat for seeing him as just a friend. Bets is a little too good, but I guess Pat needed at least one female friend.
It’s nice that for this story, Pat isn’t an orphan, isn’t particularly bright, and doesn’t want to be a writer. It offers a welcome change from Anne and Emily.
It’s nice that for this story, Pat isn’t an orphan, isn’t particularly bright, and doesn’t want to be a writer. It offers a welcome change from Anne and Emily.
DNF- I was so close, but I just couldn’t do it! I have loved all LMMs books, but I just can’t get into this one and I don’t care enough to finish or read the sequel. I’d rather finish the Anne series! Yay!
Why couldn’t I finish? The characters were boring. Judy’s dialect was too hard to read and was so distracting. It didn’t have a whimsy and fun that LMMs other books have.
Why couldn’t I finish? The characters were boring. Judy’s dialect was too hard to read and was so distracting. It didn’t have a whimsy and fun that LMMs other books have.