Paddy the Next Best Thing (also written as Paddy-The-Next-Best-Thing) is a 1908 romantic comedy novel by the British writer Gertrude Page.

[1] The heroine of the story is Paddy Adair, the daughter of an impoverished Irish landowner near Carlingford.

Paddy falls in love with another landowner, who had once been involved with her elder sister.

Gayer Mackay and Robert Ord adapted the novel into a successful 1920 West End play of the same title.

[2] The cast was: The play opened at the Savoy Theatre on 5 April 1920, transferred briefly to the Strand Theatre in February 1922, and moved back to the Savoy in March, completing its run of 867 performances on 22 April 1922.