Sharla Cody is only five but has already had a troubled life. Then she finds herself dumped with an elderly neighbour when her mother takes off for the summer. Although Sharla is not the angelic child 70-year-old Addy had pictured, the two soon forge a deep bond as Addy recalls her own childhood.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Rush Home Road
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
From Amazon
Screenwriter Lori Lansens has created an international buzz and impressive foreign sales with her first novel, Rush Home Road, set within the black community of southwestern Ontario. Addy, Lansens's central character, is an elderly black woman who was raised in a settlement founded by fugitive slaves, the fictional village of Rushholme, and now lives in a trailer park near Chatham. When the mother of a five-year-old neighbour girl named Sharla runs off, Addy becomes the girl's caregiver. Her young charge helps give Addy the will to live, and also inspires a mental journey of bittersweet remembrance back through a tragic life filled with rape, racism, murder, and the death of her own children.
Lansens, who is white, has had mixed reviews from black Canadian literary critics: her portrayals of black characters have been alternately praised for their credibility and damned for sentimentality. Structurally, Lansens has also set herself a big challenge since she must juggle past and present storylines without giving either short shrift. Inevitably, since the past events of Addy's life are so dense with incident, the present events often feel like filler: we can't wait for Addy's mind to drift again among the decades. But ultimately the story manages to overcome its elements of melodrama--the litany of suffering inflicted upon Addy and Sharla would do any soap opera plotline proud--and become the kind of richly detailed epic that readers who miss Oprah's Book Club will especially enjoy. --Nigel Hunt --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From 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.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Harriet Klausner
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
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 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Loral
Format:Paperback
This was far and above one of the best books I have ever read! A friend lent it to me and I devoured it! I then passed it on to another friend and she too couldn't put it down. I had no idea of the black history of Chatham, which is an hour drive from where I live. I immediately bought 2 more of her books and enjoyed them too but definitely "Rush Home Road" was her best so far.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A. Wedemire
Format:Paperback
This was my first purchase on Amazon; actually online EVER!
I'm so happy I did it, I saved money & didn't have to leave my house.
Rush Home Road was an amazing story, very well written; I purchased The Girls (written by the same author) prior to completing Rush Home because I enjoyed this author so much! <3
I'm so happy I did it, I saved money & didn't have to leave my house.
Rush Home Road was an amazing story, very well written; I purchased The Girls (written by the same author) prior to completing Rush Home because I enjoyed this author so much! <3
Want to see more reviews on this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 72 reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow - you must read this
I adore all of Lori Lansens books. This one is harrowing at times but the underlying "feel good" is always there. Read more
Published 2 months ago by RuthieSid
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Story
This book really is great, a must read for anyone.
I will spare the synopsis as there are already many here and will keep it simple. Read more
I will spare the synopsis as there are already many here and will keep it simple. Read more
Published 3 months ago by ReaderReader
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Enjoyable
This is definitely a good read. From time-to-time thou, I found the dialogue between characters a bit contrived (maybe I'm being overly picky here), but overall I really enjoyed... Read more
Published on Jun 29 2009 by Picky Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best books I've ever read
It's rare for me to find a book I really love and this is one of them. There's some very sad parts but overall this book is about great courage and I love the characters.
Published on Mar 23 2009 by Lexicat
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tremendous read!
What a great introductory novel! Lori Lansens has now joined that select group of writers who have added to the body of black literature. Read more
Published on May 4 2008 by TJ
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rush Home Road
I loved this book. Both of Lori Lansens novels are excellent and can be appreciated by any avid reader.
Published on Nov 25 2007 by S. Rainaldi
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEST BOOK I HAVE READ IN YEARS
THIS IS A MUST MUST READ !!!!! I HAVE BEEN TELLING EVERYONE ABOUT IT. I CAN NOT WAIT FOR MY FRIENDS TO READ IT AND RETURN IT SO I CAN READ IT AGAIN !
Published on Nov 7 2003 by SANDY
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best books I've read in a long time!
This is a must read book! As I turned the pages I couldn't help but visualize each and every scene. I grew up in Chatham, Ontario (where this book is set) and not only did I enjoy... Read more
Published on April 23 2003 by Trish Simmons
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Beautiful Book
Extremely readable from page one, your heart will be capture with this wonderful novel from Canada's new literary star. I think this novel will be one of the best fiction of 2002.
Published on May 15 2002
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Multicultural Stories > African Canadian
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Canadian > Short Stories
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Short Stories > Canadian
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Domestic Life
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
