This book is pretty wonderful. It's not quite as good as the Anne and Emily books, but it is one that I love to re-read every so often. I can identify with Pat and her love for her home and not wanting things to change, but dealing with the changes and learning to get along in the world. The descriptions are great, and there are many funny and touching episodes. I also enjoy Judy's Irish dialect, it makes her a fun character. This is definitely a must-read if you like Anne and Emily and the others. However, the sequel, Mistress Pat, was not very good at all. I've only read that one once, but it was boring and seemed a bit pointless. But Pat of Silver Bush is excellent and highly recommended.

Although Pat of Silverbush is not L.M. Montgomery's biggest triumph, it performs up to expectations. The story is firmly rooted in reality as it tells the story of Pat Gardiner, her family, and life at Silverbush, Pat's beloved home. The book follows Pat's expansive imagination in her childhood, and then her struggles to accept change as her family changes as she grows older. The book ends when Pat is eighteen, but her story is picked up in Mistress Pat (which I have not yet read). The book does slow down at times, and there are a few predictable events, but overall this is a charming story about a farming family on PE Island that will bring a sigh of contentment out of any reader.

I have read the entire Anne series, The Blue Castle, Kilmeny of the Orchard, The Story Girl and The Golden Road...but Pat of Silver Bush touched me in a way that none of the other novels did. The book follows Patricia Gardiner from age seven to age eighteen, but does not seem rushed. There is no complicated plot involving secret identities and there is very little melodrama, in my opinion. Pat of Silver Bush is "character-driven" and realistic. It celebrates the beauty of home and of everyday life. Over and over, the descriptions made me shiver and sigh. The episode in which Pat gets lost after running away from her aunt's house and meets Jingle on the road is wonderful. I sympathized with Pat's fear and with her relief and, finally, with the overwhelming joy she feels when she arrives home and sees the windows all lit up. When Pat stayed out after dark with her friends (or alone) I could almost feel the way the evening air would brush against my cheeks and shoulders if I were out on a summer night on Prince Edward Island. Pat's friendship with Bets is sweet and realistic. It made me think, "Every kid should have at least one really close friend like that." Pat's infatuations with different boys when she is a teenager are also realistic...they reminded me of some of my own experiences, even though I was a teenager in the 1990's! If you are a sensitive person who delights in little pleasures (and if you like a book that will make you cry), read Pat of Silver Bush. The only thing about the book that got annoying at times was Judy's dialect. I think readers can imagine an Irish brogue without constantly seeing it spelled out phonetically. I won't dock my rating any stars for it, though. It can be distracting, but it doesn't really take away from the novel.

I think this book was very good, but not quite as good as the Annes&Emilys, althought Montgomery confesses she acts more like herself in Pat Silver Bush. Patricia Gardiner her given name, is interesting, but not like Anne is. And yes, indeed, Judy is funny. But this book just doesn't quite have the charm and imagination and fun read as Anne. I suggest that you read the Anne and Emily's first, then please read Pat of Silver Bush, though it really is Stellar for Montgomery's later work :-)