Rush Home Road

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Rush Home Road Pub. Date: 4/1/2002 Publisher: Knopf Canada

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Overview

When 5-year old Sharla Cody is dumped on the doorstep of Addy Shadd, a 70-year old woman living in a trailer park, Addy does not know how completely her life is about to change. She's hardly used to company and the troubled Sharla is not the sweet, beautiful angel she had envisioned. Over time, Addy and Sharla form a bond that neither of them expected-and Sharla begins to undergo a transformation under Addy's patient and loving care. But much to Addy's surprise and dismay, Sharla's presence brings back memories of her own tumultuous childhood. As she reminisces about her days growing up in Rusholme, a town settled by fugitive slaves in the mid 1800s, she remembers her family and her first love and confronts the painful experience that drove her away from home, never to return.
Brilliantly structured and achingly lyrical, this beautiful first novel by the award-winning author of The Girls tells the story of two unlikely people thrown together who transform each other's lives forever.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Certain novels recall fairy tales. Their heroes are banished, repeatedly challenged, until finally, foes vanquished, they make their triumphant homecoming. Though it opens in 1978 in a Chatham, Ontario, trailer park, Lansens's poignant debut is just such a novel. At its heart is Adelaide Shadd, a 70-year-old black woman who takes in five-year-old Sharla Cody when Sharla's "white trash" mother abandons her. As Addy turns Sharla from a malnourished, heedless child into a healthy, thoughtful girl, she recollects her own past. Addy grew up in Rusholme, a fictional cousin to the many Ontario communities founded by fugitive slaves brought north by the Underground Railroad. By 1908, when Addy is born, Rusholme is settled almost entirely by black farmers and is close to idyllic. But a rape and subsequent pregnancy force Addy to run away from Rusholme (she thinks of it as a command: "Rush home"), not to return for many years. Addy's life her marriage, her children, her journey to Detroit and back to Canada is the rich core of a novel also laden with history: Lansens manages to work in not only the Railroad, but also Prohibition and the Pullman porter movement. This is artfully done, but Lansens doesn't handle the novel's smaller scenes quite as well: she tends to drop narrative threads and confuse chronology. Some readers will resent the repeated plucking of their heartstrings, too, given how much Addy and Sharla suffer. Nonetheless, Lansens has created in Addy a truly noble character, not for what she suffered in the past but for what she does in the novel's present. (May 1) Forecast: This is resolutely women's fiction, as jacket copy comparisons to White Oleander and She's Come Undone underscore. Though it lacks the finesse of either of those two novels, the well-drawn portrait of Addy will capture and hold readers' attention and could make the book a popular reading group choice. Time Warner Audio; foreign rights sold in Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the U.K. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

As this first novel opens, 70-year-old Addy Shadd is living a peaceful trailer-park existence in the company of down-and-outers like Collette, who leaves her daughter with Addy and then disappears. Five-year-old Sharla is neither lovely nor lovable, and Addy's habit of solitude is hard to break, but as the two outcasts learn to care for each other, they begin healing from the abuse that they have suffered. Memories of Addy's childhood days in Rusholme, a Canadian border town settled by runaway slaves in the 1800s, come rushing back and carry the reader away. Addy recalls intimate details a small brother who died, past lovers, children now gone, and the many people who betrayed her while historical events like the Underground Railroad, the Pullman porter movement, and Prohibition frame her account and reflect some of the hardships suffered by African Americans, even in Canada. Though Addy has led a hard life, her beautiful, gentle spirit, her wise and loving way with Sharla, and an ultimate message of hope redeem the book from melancholy. A beautiful debut; recommended for all public libraries. Jennifer Baker, Seattle P.L. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

A plot-driven first from Canadian Lansens strains to affirm love and redemption as an ailing slave-descendant becomes guardian of a mixed-race child. The story explores the lives of those Canadian blacks whose ancestors fled north during the American Revolution or by way of the Underground Railroad. Addy Shadd, who grew up in Rusholme, a town settled by fugitive slaves, must now survive not only racism but additional story-demanded tragedies and sorrows in a tale that makes her victim less of character than of plot. The story moves between past and present as Addy relates how the white woman Collette Depuis asks her care for her five-year-old daughter Sharla for the summer. Addy lives in a mobile home in the black section of a trailer park, and when the grubby and unkempt Sharla arrives with neither baggage nor the money Collette promised, Addy sees that the girl is of mixed race, though Sharla has no idea who her father is. Collette vanishes, and, touched by Sharla's plight, the 80-year-old Addy sets out to raise her as memories of her own childhood and past come back to her. She recalls her first love, the death of her only brother, and her rape, when she was 15, by her father's bootlegging associate. When her pregnancy began showing and she was locked out of the house, she fled to Detroit, where a black family took her in. She describes now how the baby died at birth; how she moved to nearby Chatham and married Mose, a porter; bore a daughter who died with Mose in a railway accident; and the lonely years that followed. With Addy's health now failing rapidly, she and Sharla both find redemption and closure when they finally make it back to Rusholme (as in Rush Home Road). Brimming overwith good intentions, but a relentlessly churning plot makes for an unconvincing ride.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780316008037
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publication date: 6/27/2008
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 416
Sales rank: 255,708
Product dimensions: 5.40 (w) x 8.10 (h) x 1.20 (d)

Meet the Author

Lori Lansens has written several films and is the author of the bestselling novel The Girls. She lives in California with her family.

Read an Excerpt

Fish

Addy didn’t know where to go. The rain had stopped, but she was still soaked and shivering and her clothes grew stiff in the ill wind. She imagined the child inside her was shivering too, so she wrapped her arms across her stomach, whispering, “We gonna be fine. We gonna be fine,” even though she knew they weren’t. She looked into the black night and was grateful she was bone cold and so hungry she could think of nothing beyond food and shelter.

All but one of the houses in Rusholme were dark and silent. Addy had wandered in circles for a time, then found herself standing in front of the little house on Fowell Street. She could see Laisa sitting in a hardback chair near the window. Her mother’s lamplight flickered, and a dark oil cloud settled above her head. She was mending a good white-collar shirt of her husband’s, ashamed her son had not a good shirt of his own to be buried in. Addy remembered how Laisa’d scolded Leam for the grass stains on his Sunday shirt after the church supper in June when he’d been showing off for Beatrice Brown. Laisa had hated his love for the pretty young girl, believing it was drawn from the same well as his Mama love, and she’d go thirsty if he loved Birdie too much. She’d said, “Fine, you keep your coat on then, Leam, no matter how hot it gets this summer, ’cause them grass stains never coming out them elbows and that teach you about showing off.” But she couldn’t bury her son with grass stains on his elbows, and she was glad to have a chore and to do for him this one last time. Laisa’s hands had stopped shaking when she picked up her needle and thread, and there was comfort in the dance of her fingers and the tiny perfect stitches they made. Addy watched her through the window for some time before she willed her feet to move in the direction of the church.

In the mile between her home and the church, Addy felt the shroud of darkness settle on her shoulders. The rain was hard and lashed her face. The doors to the church would not be locked but Addy could not go inside. It wasn’t God she feared but the fat Pastor and the way his eyes had hated her. The old shed near the graveyard was unlocked and although Addy was afraid of the restless spirits, she opened the door, squatted on the ground, and was glad to be out of the wind. She leaned up against the shovels, telling her teeth to stop chattering and her baby to be still. Then Addy told herself, as she would tell herself all her life, that although she was the cause of what happened, she did not cause what happened.

It was then she thought of the lake and the cliff across the road and how simple to raise her arms like Jesus and spiral down. She imagined what it’d be like under the water, walking on the deep sandy bottom, seeing Chester and Leam swimming there like fish. She thought how they’d wave and say, “Glad you come, Addy. We can all be together now and it ain’t even so bad down here.” But she felt terror at the notion of gulping for air and finding water instead.

Near dawn Addy woke, remembering the horror of the previous day and that it was not a dream and time to go. The gravediggers would be along any time now, and her brother put to rest by sundown. She stood with some effort and opened the shed door to the dark November sky.

The graves of her ancestors were grouped together at the far end of the yard and she went there now, for it’d be Leam’s final home and her last chance to say goodbye. She looked at the gravestones of her father’s people, unknown to her, feeling little for their dead souls. She looked up to Heaven and saw sky. She looked at the ground and saw earth. She closed her eyes and whispered, “Leam? L’il Leam? Are you there?” And because she couldn’t hear him, but was certain he was there, Addy imagined a talk with his ghost, and whispered it out loud to make it feel real.

“L’il Leam?”

“Yes, Adelaide?”

“When we was children and you got sick and near died, I prayed the Lord take me instead and leave you to grow to a man. Did you know that, Leam?”

“I knew that, Little Sister. I know you loved me well.”

“We never did fight and hate each other like other brothers and sisters. I always felt proud of that.”

“I did too, Addy. You were always my good friend.”

“And I told Birdie Brown all the good things about you and never said how you chewed your fingers and weren’t fond of a bath.”

“I know that too.”

“It weren’t Chester done me wrong, Leam. Do you know that?”

“Chester told me how he loved you. He’s sorry he never got to say so. Don’t worry, Addy. The Lord knows the truth.”

“But if the Lord knows the truth, why am I here in the graveyard instead of shaking you awake for your day’s work? Why can’t the Lord tell Daddy the truth so he can take me back in his house?”

“That’s all a mystery, Addy. It’s just what is.”

“I got to go now before the gravediggers come.”

“I know.”

“You cold?”

“I’m not cold.”

“Goodbye, Leam.”

“Goodbye, Addy. I’ll be with you.”

Addy opened her eyes, felt the wind whip up around her, and heard a gull scream overhead. She knew the bird was Leam, showing off his new flying spirit, and felt better. The trees were bare but the woods were thick and gave enough cover to hide. Addy couldn’t walk on the road for fear of being seen. She couldn’t stand the shame. Besides, she didn’t yet know where she’d go or what she’d do. She ached from the cold and felt dizzy as she crouched near a fragrant evergreen.

Addy was surprised when she awoke that she’d fallen asleep. She could not feel the tip of her nose. She was poised to come out of the bush when she saw the first of the mourners arrive for her brother’s funeral. She moved through the trees, closer to the church, so she could watch and listen and even join in a hymn. Leam Shadd had been a loved boy and all of Rusholme showed up to send him on his way to the Lord.

Addy shivered, wishing she were inside the big warm church. She imagined the Pastor telling the congregation that the best thing to do was pray for the souls of the sinners, exalt the righteous, and never speak to each other about what had happened. God moves in mysterious ways, Addy knew, and today, she thought, that was true.

First Chapter

Fish

Addy didn't know where to go. The rain had stopped, but she was still soaked and shivering and her clothes grew stiff in the ill wind. She imagined the child inside her was shivering too, so she wrapped her arms across her stomach, whispering, "We gonna be fine. We gonna be fine," even though she knew they weren't. She looked into the black night and was grateful she was bone cold and so hungry she could think of nothing beyond food and shelter.

All but one of the houses in Rusholme were dark and silent. Addy had wandered in circles for a time, then found herself standing in front of the little house on Fowell Street. She could see Laisa sitting in a hardback chair near the window. Her mother's lamplight flickered, and a dark oil cloud settled above her head. She was mending a good white-collar shirt of her husband's, ashamed her son had not a good shirt of his own to be buried in. Addy remembered how Laisa'd scolded Leam for the grass stains on his Sunday shirt after the church supper in June when he'd been showing off for Beatrice Brown. Laisa had hated his love for the pretty young girl, believing it was drawn from the same well as his Mama love, and she'd go thirsty if he loved Birdie too much. She'd said, "Fine, you keep your coat on then, Leam, no matter how hot it gets this summer, 'cause them grass stains never coming out them elbows and that teach you about showing off." But she couldn't bury her son with grass stains on his elbows, and she was glad to have a chore and to do for him this one last time. Laisa's hands had stopped shaking when she picked up her needle and thread, and there was comfort in the dance of her fingers and the tiny perfectstitches they made. Addy watched her through the window for some time before she willed her feet to move in the direction of the church.

In the mile between her home and the church, Addy felt the shroud of darkness settle on her shoulders. The rain was hard and lashed her face. The doors to the church would not be locked but Addy could not go inside. It wasn't God she feared but the fat Pastor and the way his eyes had hated her. The old shed near the graveyard was unlocked and although Addy was afraid of the restless spirits, she opened the door, squatted on the ground, and was glad to be out of the wind. She leaned up against the shovels, telling her teeth to stop chattering and her baby to be still. Then Addy told herself, as she would tell herself all her life, that although she was the cause of what happened, she did not cause what happened.

It was then she thought of the lake and the cliff across the road and how simple to raise her arms like Jesus and spiral down. She imagined what it'd be like under the water, walking on the deep sandy bottom, seeing Chester and Leam swimming there like fish. She thought how they'd wave and say, "Glad you come, Addy. We can all be together now and it ain't even so bad down here." But she felt terror at the notion of gulping for air and finding water instead.

Near dawn Addy woke, remembering the horror of the previous day and that it was not a dream and time to go. The gravediggers would be along any time now, and her brother put to rest by sundown. She stood with some effort and opened the shed door to the dark November sky.

The graves of her ancestors were grouped together at the far end of the yard and she went there now, for it'd be Leam's final home and her last chance to say goodbye. She looked at the gravestones of her father's people, unknown to her, feeling little for their dead souls. She looked up to Heaven and saw sky. She looked at the ground and saw earth. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Leam? L'il Leam? Are you there?" And because she couldn't hear him, but was certain he was there, Addy imagined a talk with his ghost, and whispered it out loud to make it feel real.

"L'il Leam?"

"Yes, Adelaide?"

"When we was children and you got sick and near died, I prayed the Lord take me instead and leave you to grow to a man. Did you know that, Leam?"

"I knew that, Little Sister. I know you loved me well."

"We never did fight and hate each other like other brothers and sisters. I always felt proud of that."

"I did too, Addy. You were always my good friend."

"And I told Birdie Brown all the good things about you and never said how you chewed your fingers and weren't fond of a bath."

"I know that too."

"It weren't Chester done me wrong, Leam. Do you know that?"

"Chester told me how he loved you. He's sorry he never got to say so. Don't worry, Addy. The Lord knows the truth."

"But if the Lord knows the truth, why am I here in the graveyard instead of shaking you awake for your day's work? Why can't the Lord tell Daddy the truth so he can take me back in his house?"

"That's all a mystery, Addy. It's just what is."

"I got to go now before the gravediggers come."

"I know."

"You cold?"

"I'm not cold."

"Goodbye, Leam."

"Goodbye, Addy. I'll be with you."

Addy opened her eyes, felt the wind whip up around her, and heard a gull scream overhead. She knew the bird was Leam, showing off his new flying spirit, and felt better. The trees were bare but the woods were thick and gave enough cover to hide. Addy couldn't walk on the road for fear of being seen. She couldn't stand the shame. Besides, she didn't yet know where she'd go or what she'd do. She ached from the cold and felt dizzy as she crouched near a fragrant evergreen.

Addy was surprised when she awoke that she'd fallen asleep. She could not feel the tip of her nose. She was poised to come out of the bush when she saw the first of the mourners arrive for her brother's funeral. She moved through the trees, closer to the church, so she could watch and listen and even join in a hymn. Leam Shadd had been a loved boy and all of Rusholme showed up to send him on his way to the Lord.

Addy shivered, wishing she were inside the big warm church. She imagined the Pastor telling the congregation that the best thing to do was pray for the souls of the sinners, exalt the righteous, and never speak to each other about what had happened. God moves in mysterious ways, Addy knew, and today, she thought, that was true.

Reading Group Guide

A lonely 70-year-old woman takes in an abandoned girl in this heart-wrenching tale of love and loss set in the black communities of southwestern Ontario.

Rush Home Road, a dramatic début novel by an adept storyteller, was compared to John Steinbeck and Alice Munro and is poised to become beloved by readers around the world. While exploring the rich history of the Underground Railroad, whereby fugitive slaves from the United States found freedom in Canada, it also speaks broadly of motherhood, understanding, the importance of goodness and the power of love.

Rusholme, Ontario, is an all-black town born of the Underground Railroad. Its inhabitants farm land cleared by their ancestors who escaped slavery, and are grateful for modest comforts and richness of life; but for the taint of the bootleggers, it is a strong and peaceful community. At fifteen, Addy Shadd has learned to bake a pie crust better than her mother’s, and is happy to pick vegetables in the fields in summer so she can show off her strong, smooth calves to Chester Monk, the young man she hopes to marry one day.

At the annual Strawberry Supper, her dreams go horribly awry. A series of terrible misunderstandings lead to the tragic death of her brother, and blame falls on Addy. Shunned by her family, exiled from the community, she leaves home to find a new life. One refrain fills her head: Rush Home. But she is no longer welcome in Rusholme. Her courageous journey takes her to less-sheltered places, first to Detroit, then Chatham, where she finds a home for a while — until tragedy strikes again. Addy has learned to accept the tribulations life deals her as merely “whatis.”

Many years later, in 1978, we meet Addy at 70, living in a trailer park near Lake Erie. She grows flowers and keeps a tidy house, her only company the voice of her little brother Leam, which has stayed with her through the years. Her quiet existence is ruptured suddenly when a neighbour offers to pay Addy to look after her young daughter for the summer. Before Addy can act on her second thoughts, the girl’s mother has disappeared, and odd, mixed-race Sharla Cody is Addy’s responsibility.

It is not the first time Addy has had a five-year-old to care for, and although long-neglected Sharla has much to learn about how to behave, her warm, grateful presence brings back a deluge of memories for Addy, who carries an unwarranted burden of guilt. As we watch a relationship unfold between the aging Addy and the little girl she chooses to care for, we are transported through flashbacks into the harsh life of a strong woman who endured more disasters than triumphs, suffered through racism and prejudice, but still has faith in the redemptive power of love.

With its depictions of human nature at its most despicable and most admirable, Rush Home Road is heartbreaking but optimistic, passionate but funny, intimate and readable, with skillfully drawn characters and compelling plot twists. Although Knopf Canada was the first publisher to buy the manuscript, a U.S. publisher quickly paid a large advance for the remaining rights to this first novel by a Canadian author, and within two months of acquiring the manuscript had sold it in eleven countries. Shortly after the book’s publication, film rights were bought by Whoopi Goldberg, who plans to play the lead role.

Customer Reviews

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LCH47

Posted June 28, 2010

I Also Recommend:

Exciting and fascinating.

This story is a journey into the life of Addy Shadd, an elderly Canadian woman whose life unfolds in a series of flashbacks. A biracial girl named Sharla Cody tells the story.
Five year old Sharla Cody is left on Addy's trailer doorstep. Addy thinks she is not up to raising this child, yet she takes her into her home and heart.
As a child, herself, living in Rushholme, Addy learned the history of her community which was settled by runaway slaves in the 1800s. When she was a teenager circumstances compelled Addy to leave the home she loves.
With the backdrop of African American history, struggles and dreams, and the connection between young and old, leave the reader overwhelmed with emotion. There is a lot of beauty in this book. This is intriguing and fascinating.

Other exciting books, SCARED, by Davis, EXPLOSION IN PARIS by Pirrung, TAKE FOUR by Kingsbury.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted July 5, 2005

One of the best stories.

Reading Rush Home Road was like being in love. I couldn't stay away. I rearranged my schedule to read it. I read til it hurt. I couldn't get enough and when it was over, I missed it. I am currently on to the next book but as I read, I have memories of the characters in Rush Home Road. I want to return (Rush Home) to it. I feel like I know the characters. I was raised in Chatham and it was like a visit home. One critic mentioned a 'churning plot' but it was precisely that churning that engulfed me. It's the kind of book that makes you forget you are reading makes you forget that someone actually wrote it because it sucks you in and won't let you go until all is resolved. Even though it resolves gracefully and lets you down gently, like all good love affairs, it leaves its indelible mark on your heart . . . forever.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted October 29, 2002

Detailed Characters You Love and Hate

This book was lush with details. The characters were well fleshed and I missed them when the book was over. The story of a Canadian black woman's journey is rich in savagery, serendipity and savory food. You will love Addy for her strengths and weaknesses. It is truly a page-turner and I lost many a 'wink' over the coarse of it's read. I hope the author has another work in progress. Maybe, she should publish a cookbook with all the delicious foods included in the book. You will love this book.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted October 10, 2009

Rush Home Road

Awesome book...couldn't wait to find time in my day to read it. I must have liked it because when I went to put it in my journal of books, I found out that I had already read it a few years ago!! Passed it om to my friends.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted May 28, 2007

A reviewer

One reviewer started out by telling you that reading this book was like falling in love. That describes it perfectly. The characters in this book will captivate you from the moment you crack it open. The experience lingers for days after the book is done and you will forever be touched by the story.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted February 24, 2006

A book that reads like a movie!

This is an amazing book with great characters. I did not want to put it down. I would read it again. This book should be turned into a movie. It's written with passion and intrigue. You will fall in love with all of the characters, and at the same time experience every emotion granted by the author.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted March 13, 2005

Wonderful!

I loved this book, it was full of drama and was humorous at the same time. However, I was very disappointed to discover that this is Lori Lansing's only book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted May 21, 2002

Outstanding Novel

I truly enjoyed this novel. The historical aspect, in regard to the plight of Black Canadians during Addy's time, was not only entertaining, but also very informative. I found that the flashbacks superbly intertwined with the modern-day problems associated with raising a young child. What more is there to describe or say when you live in a trailer on a mud lane? Addy Shadd began to feel like a Mum to me as well. I found myself 'Rushing Home' everyday to read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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harstan

Posted December 9, 2008

more from this reviewer

Insightful look at the Black Canadian heritage

In 1978 in the Chatham, Canada Lakeview Trailer Park white woman Collette asks black Canadian senior citizen Adelaide Shadd to take in her five-year-old daughter Sharla Cody for the summer so she can live with a man. Addy agrees if she is paid. However when the little girl arrives, Addy knows from Sharla¿s appearance that Collette has abandoned her mixed race child.
Still Addy showers love and sustenance onto the pathetic child turning her into a caring healthy girl. While doing so, Addy looks back on her life growing up in Rusholme, an Ontario community founded by fugitive American slave passengers of the Underground Railroad. Addy loved her hometown until her father¿s bootlegging partner raped her and subsequently the pregnant teen was thrown out of her home. She lost the child and then marryies Mose. They had a child but the girl and Mose died in a railway accident. With Addy's health now ebbing, she and Sharla ¿rush home¿ seeking closure.
When RUSH HOME ROAD focuses on the history of blacks in Canada it is quite a fabulous historical tale. However, when the subplot concentrates on the plight of Addy and Sharla it feels like an overdone soap opera. Simply, the historical elements are so superbly done and intriguing, the other aspects of the tale pale in comparison even though they are well written and smoothly intertwined into the story line. Lori Lansens provides an engaging historical fiction novel that genre fans will relish though many will skip the present dilemmas facing the marvelous two women.
Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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VirtuousWomanKF

Posted May 9, 2011

Just OK

I enjoyed the preface of the story but felt it lacked substance. Slow reading and the ending was odd.
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Anonymous

Posted March 24, 2011

I Also Recommend:

My Favorite Book of All Time

I read this book a couple of years ago and although I do not remember every detail and would like to reread it, it was the best book I have read and I am an avid reader. I have lent the book to friends and it quickly became their favorite book as well. It is such a touching story of two lives and how they affect each other. It is a very real story, which is also why I fell in love with it. A Must Read!
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book_book

Posted September 21, 2009

Good read!

This novel sat on my bookshelf for a long, long time, and somehow I kept passing it up. Anyway, I recently read it and I found it to be a touching debut. The historical facts were an added bonus. I did think that Addy had too much misfortune in her life to make it entirely believable, but other than that, I enjoyed this story and would recommend it.
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Anonymous

Posted June 27, 2002

This was wonderful book !

One of my favorites. I enjoyed it since day one. I could not stop reading.
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Posted February 27, 2009

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Posted November 14, 2011

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Posted January 22, 2010

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Posted December 27, 2010

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Posted July 26, 2011

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Posted November 8, 2011

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Posted November 7, 2010

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