“Mistress Pat” by: Lucy Maud Montgomery

Age: 10+

 

Description: When she was twenty, nearly everyone thought Patricia Gardiner ought to be having beaus--except of course, Pat herself. For Pat, Silver Bush was both home and heaven. All she could ever ask of life was bound in the magic of the lovely old house on Prince Edward Island, "where good things never change." And now there was more than ever to do, what with planning for the Christmas family reunion, entertaining a countess, playing matchmaker, and preparing for the arrival of the new hired man. Yet as those she loved so dearly started to move away, Pat began to question the wisdom of her choice of Silver Bush over romance. Was it possible to be lonely at Silver Bush?

 

My Rating: 3/5

Phew! Okay, this book was definitely a ride - good at times and infuriating at others. Here are my thoughts:

I’ll start by saying I love the late-night sister chats between Pat and Cuddles/Rae! Having a close relationship with my own sisters, those conversations are something that I greatly treasure! It felt so homey and comfy to have similar conversations in this book!!

I wish there were more of the letters between Pat and Hilary. So much time goes by in this book (11 years) and we really don’t get much correspondence.

There were many, many instances where I was very upset with Pat! Two instances particularly stand out. The first one is noted in detail under the “Romantic Content” section. The second instance was the ending (may contain spoilers - continue at your own risk). SPOILER: So much happened in the last 5-10 chapters and honestly it left me feeling upset. Judy died, and while it was sad, it felt natural and well-written. Unfortunately it all went downhill after that. When Silver Bush burnt, I was completely shocked!! That was a plot twist for sure! While I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a bad plot twist, I was just unprepared and felt like there was not nearly enough time to recover from that before the end of the book. Speaking of which, no sooner had Silver Bush burned than Hilary had come back home, kissed Pat and then practically told her they were getting married. There wasn’t a cute proposal just a “‘I’ve made you mine forever with that kiss,’ he said triumphantly.” Pat’s character seemed to fly out the window as she plans her future with Hilary and (get this) is totally okay with moving away (which, might I remind you, was the ENTIRE reason she rejected the other men - again, see the “Romantic Content”). Anyway, I’ll stop ranting. All that to say, I was very dissatisfied with the ending. There was so much wasted time in the other parts of the book and then the ending felt incredibly rushed. END OF SPOILER (-1 star)

Notable Quotes:

“Nothing is ever quite so dreadful in reality as in anticipation.”

⁃ Rae Gardiner

Things to be aware of in “Mistress Pat”

Language:

⁃ 3 forms of “gosh” or “good gosh”

⁃ “She said a word beginning wid D and inding wid N.”

⁃ 2 “stupidly” or “stupid”

I primarily only noted words which were used as an insult.

Violence:

⁃ One mention of murder (including choking, hanging and dropping in a river with a stone tied to them)

Romantic Content:

⁃ SPOILER! For a big portion of this book, Pat, though clearly stating she will not leave Silver Bush, was very flirtatious with men, leading them on and then ultimately rejecting them. In one instance, Montgomery writes, “If any girl had ever encouraged a man Pat had encouraged Donald Holmes that summer.” He (Donald) proceeds to propose and she rejects him. I was very disappointed with her carefree attitude towards men as she repeatedly broke hearts and I felt no sympathy for her whatsoever. END OF SPOILER (-1 star) 

⁃ “His lips were seeking hers”

⁃ One kiss

Spiritual Content:

⁃ A story is told about a man whose wife remains alive so long as he doesn’t pray to God. SPOILER! When he does pray, his wife dies. END OF SPOILER

⁃ A mention of “the gods”

⁃ “I couldn’t live with a man who didn’t believe in predestination.”

⁃ “He said there was never an Adam or Eve and he said the doctrine of predestination was blasphemous and abominable.”

Additional Notes:

⁃ Mentions of homicide (in reference to trees)

⁃ Talks of people being “witches”

⁃ Ghost stories are told (and ghosts are potentially believed in)

⁃ Many instances of characters hating each other. One: “I hate sick people.”

⁃ A character is said to be drunk on a few occasions.

⁃ A character is described multiple times as being “fat”, “chubby”, and “enormous.”

⁃ A character is said to have “ugly daughters”. And later, a character is described as having a “rather ugly face.”

⁃ “Some ugly girl wud have done for him.”

⁃ “I hoped your husband would beat you!”

Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18615064