I drudged through the first half and skipped through most of Judy's ramblings. I began to enjoy it more near the end however.

I liked this more than I’d expected, but less than I’d hoped. I picked it up while in PEI as (I believe) one of L.M. Montgomery’s first books, but I see why it never became a great hit.
You may think that Pat is the star of the show, but it’s actually Silver Bush. The house. I’ve never heard of a house romanticized to such an extent. It got to be a bit obnoxious as Pat grew to a young woman of eighteen and STILL exclusively wanted to take care of the house. No other dreams, besides preventing as much change as possible.
Otherwise, I love how she adores everything and has a couple of dear friends (I cried for Bets, of course) who share the same romantic ideals.

4.5 stars because it made me cry

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."

One of LM Montgomery’s lesser-read Heroines, Pat Gardnier of Silver Bush Farm is a small-girl-grown-to-adulthood who lives and loves deeply on Prince Edward Island in the early years of the 20th Century.

Pat’s devotion to home and family is a refreshing change of pace from today’s heroines who come from broken homes, war zones, struggling to survive in a world that hates them; Montgomery sets Pat amongst a loving family on a beautiful piece of land, and spends page after page describing that land so the reader too, will hopefully live the place as much as the devoted Pat does.
Lots of pages of the description of landforms, floral, fauna, etc comprise A LOT of the narrative. I remember first reading this book many years ago and being enchanted by the silvery moon and the heavy scent of jasmine from the summer gardens, etc etc, but find them kind of repetitious and tedious the 2nd time through as an adult. So much of the story seems to be a realtor’s fanciful listing of the Gardnier properties. Honestly, though, I would buy such a place in a heartbeat, if it was offered to me!

This one was hard for me to get into. It’s my least favorite L.M. Montgomery book so far. Eventually I did start to enjoy it and I’m glad I read it so I could get it the second book, which I did enjoy more.

I love this book! It's a laugh-out-loud funny and very charming story. My favorite characters are the hilarious housekeeper Judy and the darling orphaned neighbor boy, Jingle. Montgomery does her best work when writing about childhood. She does a wonderful job showing how magical it can be. And every time I read one of her books, I am reminded to be more aware of a grateful for the beautiful world around me.

I have to say a word about the book's sequel, however. Mistress Pat is an excruciating novel. It's still very funny and there are plenty of things that Montgomery always does well that I always enjoy. HOWEVER. (spoiler alert) I find that fact that it took Pat 11 years and her entire life burning down around her head to realize she was in love with Hillary Gordon to be unforgivable. How could any woman be that stupid? Hillary was so wonderful!! All of those years wasted when they could have been happily married....I really think that by the time she came to her senses, she did not deserve him anymore. It is not a very satisfying romance.

This was a delightful read! Definitely a favorite from LMM.

Someone gifted me a copy of "Mistress Pat" years ago and I read it as a child and didn't care for it much. I don't know why I never realized at the time that in order to understand it you must read "Pat of Silver Bush" first. "Pat of Silver Bush" is more likable of the two and definitely filled in some gaps for me.
I feel like so much of whether or not you will like Pat depends on when you meet her in your own life. We all have times when we yearn for home and want things to stay the same. If you're there...I think the coziness of Silver Bush might draw you in. If you aren't you are likely to find Pat annoying.

Very similar to the first Anne and Emily books( i.e. growing up, lots of little stories, and way to much nature worship) but still a really sweet story… although it was kind of hard reading Judy’s broken English on almost every page

WHAT'S UP WITH PAT OF THE BUSH? IS IT BAD?

NOT BAD, BUT THE CHARACTER IS STUBBORN AND ANNOYING. SHE HATES CHANGE SO SHE LIVES WITH HER FAMILY UNTIL SHE'S LIKE 30 AND HER HOUSE BURNS DOWN.

I REREAD PAT OF SILVER BUSH AND MISTRESS PAT EVERY FEW YEARS BECAUSE I LIKE SOME OF THE SUPPORTING CHARACTERS, BUT PAT IS A CAILURE WEIRDO AND THE LOLMANCE IS NOT GRATE.

I DIDN'T LIKE IT. PAT IS BASICALLY ME SO I LOATHE HER.

I KNOW I READ IT BUT I HAVE NO MEMORY OF WHAT HAPPENED AT ALL.

IMFL PAT OF SILVER BUSH BECAUSE IT HELPED MOTIVATE ME TO ACTUALLY SEE A DOCTOR FOR MY DEPRESSION, START THERAPY AND MEDICATION, AND THEN EVENTUALLY APPLY FOR COLLEGE. I WAS SO AFRAID OF ENDING UP LIKE HER.

THAT'S A WEIRDLY INSPIRING STORY

IT WAS A WEIRDLY INSPIRING DUOLOGY. I HATED PAT, BUT I SAW WAY TOO MUCH OF MYSELF IN HER AND IT WAS THE FIRST THING THAT REALLY MADE ME THINK 'IF I DON'T GET HELP, I'M GOING TO END UP LIVING AT HOME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE WHILE EVERYONE ELSE GROWS UP AND LEAVES'.

THE ONLY CHARACTER IL FROM THE PAT BOOKS IS RAE, AND SHE COMES IN LATE IN THE GAME AND LEAVES EARLY.

PAT IS TRUFAX THE MOAST MEMERISH OF LMM CHARACTERS. INO MEMERS WANT TO BE VALANCYS OR ANNES, BUT AS A WHOLE, WE'RE PATS.

SHOULD I READ LMM'S PAT BOOKS? I'VE HEARD THEY'RE BAD.

I ENJOY SOME THINGS ABOUT THEM LIKE THE NATURE AND FOOD AND CLOTHING DESCRIPTIONS, AND IL RAY WHEN SHE GROWS UP. BUT ID LIKE PAT VERY MUCH AND THE LOVE STORY IN IT IS NOT GRATE BOB. AND IMFH JUDY PLUM.

for a little while, this book had me quite worried, because i thought i was going to have to give lucy maude a one or two star review, which simply seems sacrilegious. in the end - like, literally, the last fifty to seventy-five pages or so - it got better and i actually sort of liked it, but goodness gracious. getting there was sort of excruciating. pat is just a really difficult character, in the sense that i was incredibly annoyed at how insipid and twee she was for most of the book. everything she encounters is precious or sweet or darling and the idea of anything in her world changing, even if it's a good change, sends her into a tailspin of whiny panic and crying. so not someone i'd want to hang out with or with whom i can relate. and supporting characters are painted with too broad of a stroke. except maybe for hilary, whom i dug. but, even though i had to plod through the first part of the book, i'll still probably read the sequel ...