Rush Home Road

by Lori Lansens

Sharla Cody is only five, but has already lived a troubled life -- only to find herself dumped on an elderly neighbor's doorstep when her mother takes off for the summer. Although Sharla is not the angelic child Addy Shadd had pictured when she agreed to look after her, the two soon forge a deep bond. To Addy's surprise, Sharla's presence brings back memories of her own childhood in Rusholme, a town settled by fugitive slaves in the mid-1800s. She reminisces about her family, her first love, and the painful experience that drove her away from home. Brilliantly structured -- and achingly lyrical, this is a story about the redeeming power of love and memory, and about two unlikely people who transform each other's lives forever.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Book Club, Canada, Adult Fiction, Historical, Contemporary

387 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Lori Lansens was born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, a small Canadian town with a remarkable history as a terminus on the Underground Railroad, which became the setting for her first three bestselling novels. After living in downtown Toronto most of her adult life, she moved with her family to the Santa Monica mountains near Los Angeles in 2006. A couple of years ago she relocated with her family to Calabasas, California, home of the Kardashians. Her new novel "This Little Light" is set there.

Reviews

[Dem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this plot driven novel by Canadian writer Lori Lansens.

When I started reading this Novel I found that by the end of second chapter I was totally drawn into the story and was captivated by the characters and the premise of the story.

The novel is set in the 1920s and 1970s in a trailer park in a small town in Canada and tells the story of 70 year old Addy Shadd.
A fellow neighbour Collette drops her 5 year old Sharla off with Addy and disappears. Addy reluctantly steps in as guardian to care for the child. The two form a tight bond and Sharla experiences unconditional love for the first time in her short life. At the same time, the young girl triggers Addy's childhood memories. These memories are full of hardships and trials. 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 of her family, past lovers and the many people who loved and betrayed her.

I really enjoyed the characters in this novel and fell totally in love with Addy. I felt the author did a fantastic job of making clear and precise transitions between the past and present and I never found myself getting lost in this fast paced novel. I think Lori Larsens does an excellent job of telling this tale and I love the sense of time and place that she creates.

I found this book a really interesting and an easy read and would recommend it for anyone who enjoyed Novels such as The Kitchen House or The Help. I also recommend it to anyone who enjoys heartbreaking and yet a heartwarming tale.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of those life-changing books. I felt like I got to know the main character, Addy, so well, that I missed her when I finished the book. What made this a memorable book for me was that the author was so good at painting scenes in many dimensions. The books centers around and old African American woman who grudgingly agrees to take in a ragamuffin white child who is homely and unwanted. Okay, the theme could be hackneyed but Lansens does such an outstanding job of telling the tale. As time passes, the woman grows fond of the child and the little girl blossoms into someone sweet and lovely. Again, we've heard that plot before. But again, Lansens' writing is so well crafted that it's like reading your first really good novel. The author also very creatively switches back from present tense to past tense and we learn of all the things (mostly sad) that happened along Addy's path that made her who she was as an old woman. But never is the sadness overwhelming. It's like Addy's strength and courage and simplicity buoy the reader. I'll say no more except that I think you should pick up this book and read it.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a new author on my favourites list and this book was AMAZING! In my little world three stars out of five means it was a pretty good read … this book I would give six!

The book is set in the Detroit-Windsor-Chatham corrider of Southern Ontario (as are most of Ms. Lansens books) and tells the story of Sharla Cody and Mum-Addy. Sharla is a five year old who has had a tough go of it already and Addy is a 70 year old who had a tough go of it all her life. Addy agrees to look after Sharla for the summer so her real mother can “get her life together” … which in reality meant “take off in the middle of the night with her boyfriend". Having a young child in the house brings back memories of her own upbringing and causes Addy to go down memory lane a little more frequently than usual. Moving seamlessley from the present to the past, Addy’s story is the book.

Ms. Lansens manages to incorporate a lot of Canadiana into the book, from Canada’a role in the anti-slavery movement, the underground railway and prohibition, but does so in a way that weaves well into the story. She also looks at the seedier side of children’s lives when they do not have strong and loving parental figures. Although uplifting in the case of little Sharla, it makes me wish every needy child had an “Addy” in their lives.

Addy is a character I quickly came to love, and that feeling kept me turning the pages to find out more about her remarkable life. A must read for anyone who likes a good story with (spoiler alert) a little bit of a tear-jerker ending.

[Lori Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book... wonderful story of redemption and resilience!!! Addy's story will stay with me... HIGHLY recommend!!!

[Cupcakencorset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book! Set in both the 1930s and the 1990s, this rich literary novel tells the story of Addy Shadd, a black woman in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the U.S., starting with the violent disruption of her nearly idyllic life as a teenager in Rusholme. Rusholme was the end of a line on the Underground Railroad and had become one of the few places where blacks owned property and lived outside most of the prejudice and discrimination of the pre-civil-rights era. A pregnant Addy is forced out of her home at 15 years of age and has to make her way in a world that is at best unsympathetic to her plight.

As an old woman, Addy takes in Sharla Cody, a biracial 5-year-old neighbor whose mother abandons the girl in the trailer park where they all live. Sharla’s life has included little discipline, little love and little happiness. Their life together isn’t smooth, and the world is no more sympathetic than when Addy was young, but they find in each other a measure of solace.

Rush Home Road is rich and evocative, with details that bring to life two worlds that I had never imagined. Lansens uses language like a painter, drawing and coloring her Addy and Sharla vividly, lovingly, but with little sentimentality. They become real people, damaged and resigned to make the best of their situations, however precarious they know them to be.

I don’t know quite how Lansens was able to get into the minds of two people so different from her (and from me), but she did… and she got into my heart at the same time.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book a few years back. It sat on my shelf after I read the first few pages and put it down for the bad language/swearing. Here, on Goodreads I saw some of my trusted friends gave it good reviews. I'm so glad I gave it a second chance...it was a fabulous, heart touching, sweet read. The story went back and forth from present day and the lives of Sharla & Addy to the days of Addy's childhood. I love books like this one, of people unselfishly helping others less fortunate. (the bad language at the start was just a way of describing the family and their lifestyle of the little girl who was abandoned) there was a little sexuality. Overall, I loved this book, hated for it to end, and would recommend it!

[Laurence CL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre de livre pris au hasard sur le présentoir de la bibliothèque et qui m’a complètement absorbée. Une époque et une réalité décrites à travers la vie difficile et surprenante d’une femme forte à laquelle on s’attache.

[Sarah Obsesses over Books & Cookies · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those novels that just reads and reads and reads. It reminded me of Jane Eyre but easier. I thought it would be more about the girl, Sharla but it was truly about Adalaide "Addy" Shadd.
Sharla's mom is trash. She decides she doesn't want her 6 year old anymore so she goes around the trailer park seeing who will take her for the summer since her boyfriend gets annoyed when she's around.
Addy says yes and then bit by bit (each chapter is an alternating POV between Sharla and Addy) we find out Addy's tale of growing up. And much like Jane Eyre Addy is goes off at a young age (but Jane wasn't raped) and by coincidence, or by God Addy meets people who are unlikely helpers.
The story takes place in Canada and US in the early 1900's and late 1970's.
I was totally enthralled. I haven't read a book this engaging in a long time. And the coolest part for me is that i hadn't heard of the author and she has a couple more books.
This is a book about love- for Addy had a first love and a real love. it's about family- Sharla wants her mother but loves "mum addy" too. About regretting the past and forgiving your parents and even though the author throws in some typical situations (rape, pregnancy, seeming infidelity etc) it isn't forced or corny.

[Amanda || eastofreaden · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Wake in bed and know, because dreams are not true, that the sun will be shining and it will not storm today."

I haven't fallen this madly in love with a book in years. The last time I closed a book and actually missed the characters was when I read The Time Traveler's Wife about 8 years ago.

I read a previous review wherein someone referred to Addy as a "saint", but she really wasn't. She was just a genuinely good, and loving person. She was a gift to Sharla and vice-versa. They needed each other.

(Spoilers below!)

My heart couldn't handle a lot of things that happened in this beautiful book. I found myself with a lump in my chest and an ache in my stomach on numerous occasions. At certain points I had to stop, put the book down, and take a few mins (like the quick and casual way Lansens slipped into the story of Chick & Mose dying in the train accident). I wanted the book to last awhile, I didn't want it to be over, but I also NEEDED to know things (what happened to her children? what happened to her husband? will Sharla find her father?). As I finished the last page, glad I was alone because I was crying so much, I closed the book with a pain in my heart but so glad for the experience of reading it.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first remember opening this book in the store and reading the first paragraph. From that first paragraph I was hooked. I knew that it was going to be good but I still had my doubts about the storyline. I continued reading later on that night and I couldn't stop. I was younger at that time so it took me a few days to read. I was incredulous at the way the whole town acted towards Addy. The hate, betrayal, and abhorrence just came out without questioning what really happened to her. I loved following her through her past and present at the same time caring for little Sharla Cody. I was able to see her face her problems of love, rape, acceptance and the strength she had to make it through it all.

I learned that life isn't perfect and there are always going to be times when life takes a turn for the worst but you shouldn't let it control your life. The best thing you could ever do is try to make the best of it and move on.

[Noeleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well written novel concerning a story of bonding, hope, love and a need to belong with family and loved ones. There are many interesting characters in Addy Shadd’s story. Addy herself showed resilience, compassion and forgiveness throughout her experiences and did so with a sense of dignity. It was a very sad story in places, both for Addy and Sharla. There were a few twists thrown in that I didn’t expect. Overall, a very good, heart touching story. I really enjoyed this book and felt immersed in the story when reading it. I look forward to reading more from this author.

[☮Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly embraced this book, about love and forgiveness. Addy is one of the more memorable, loveable, thoroughly kind-hearted characters I have read about in a long, long time; and I know this story will stay with me. I had forgotten about those American slaves who ended up in Canada, and reading about this real town, Rusholme, and its descendents piqued my interest.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a warm and beautiful book...

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. No doubt this is a sweet story with characters you want to reach in and help out, especially the two main characters, Sharla and Addy. Stories like these hold some appeal for me. We all need Addys in our life and we should all have Sharlas too.

But there were a couple of things that I couldn't overlook. One is that this book is told from Addy's POV. But there were a couple of scenes where the author abandons that and gives the reader things that Addy could not have known.

The story was also predictable....and you could see the author trying to align the stars as the ending came closer. It felt overwrought. But still it was sweet and satisfying....so I'm rounding up.

[Cindy Landes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce livre m’a plu d’un bout à l’autre.
J’étais touchée par l’histoire au présent: la relation qui s’installe entre la vieille Addy et la petite Sharla.
Et j’étais tout simplement passionnée par l’histoire au passé: la vie complète d’Addy qui nous est racontée. Une vie tumultueuse, remplie d’obstacles, mais également de petites douceurs.
J’avais les yeux plein d’eau à la fin ♥️

[Gail Amendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful story of the relationship that forms between an elderly black woman living in a trailer park and the neglected five year old girl who is abandoned on her doorstep when her mother runs off with her boyfriend. Addy is in ill health and has had a hard life, but she steps up to care for Sharla as if she were her own. Their relationship causes Addy to reflect on her past, and the story switches back and forth between 1980ish with Addy and Sharla, and Addie's past. A large part of this story is the nature of family, as both Addy and Sharla have been betrayed by their biological family, but form strong familial relationships with others. Addy's life has been a series of chance encounters with benevolent strangers who have become like family to her. The characters are wonderful, and many are quite well developed. The story is set in southern Ontario and Detroit, and interesting snippets of the Black history of the area are thrown in, but I wouldn't say that is the focus of this book. The historical timeline is a bit off, but I think that's a minor detail as this story is about the characters, not the history. This is a long book, but I read it quickly as I had to find out what happened next, but I did occasionally have to pause as I knew that something bad was about to happen that I had to steel myself for. The ending is absolutely beautiful.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was like reading Lassie's memoir.
Addy, a tried and true saint, has seen it all. The novel starts out promising enough in that Addy is told as young child that she is ugly and won't ever find love. Well, I can go for that, as that is a lot more interesting than the opposite. Except that somehow Addy the Ugly ends up not only capturing the heart of the guy she had a huge crush on but barely spoke to (undying love that came from what exactly?) as well as about ninety other men up until the closing of the tale.
In addition to Lansens total sell out in regard to a potentially interesting heroine (Addy was about as realistic and developed as that Laura Bush character in Sittenfeld's simpering work), the people in Addy's world divide quickly and unfailingly into good and bad with basically no ambiguity. Addy takes in an abandoned girl which triggers the memory as well as literal hosts of Addy;s own past.
This story is completely unrealistic and undeveloped. I read it only because it's a book club choice, and wasn't too excited since I really, really didn't like Lansens other work at all. While this was more readable, I found myself rolling my eyes throughout.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went along for the ride for the first half of this book, as one tragedy after another battered the main character a young Canadian girl named Adelaide Shadd. Addie's ancestors were runaway slaves who had found their way via the underground railroad from the American South to this small lake town near Toronto, called Rusholme. It was a town populated entirely by the descendants of slaves, and Addie believed that it was representative of Canada as a whole, an illusion that was lost after she left home. I will not describe the circumstances, so as not to spoil the whole book for you. I will say that by the halfway point, I was impatient with the impossibility of the existence of an Adelaide Shadd, and the failure of the author to even attempt to grapple with the psychological aftermath of accumulated trauma. It was a fantasy, but without the magic, I thought, although the author made an attempt from time to time. Two stars for imagining so many awful things that might happen to a person in this life.

[Melenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. If I hadn't had so many things going on in my life I very much would have read this in one sitting. I fell in love with the characters and the story line as well. I was so sad when the story ended, because I felt so connected to the characters lives. Sometimes I have trouble with the alternating story lines, but Lansens worked it perfectly in this book, in my opinion. I definitely recommend this book to everyone! I want to know more about the little girl, but the ending really was the way the book was supposed to end. To continue the story longer would have made it less of an impact.

[Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful story of a woman with an enduring spirit and a big heart. At over 500 pages, it could have used more editing, but the plot was interesting and the ending satisfying.

[Marie-Eve Anctil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un gros wow pour ce livre . Une très belle histoire touchante.je peux que le recommander

[Karyl · Rating 2 out of 5]

**** 2.5 stars ****

Ohhhh really, what can I say about this book? I was looking forward to reading it, considering how many stars it has here on Goodreads, until I realized that everyone who loved this book is probably a huge fan of made-for-TV sobfests and Nicholas Sparks books. Listen, there's nothing wrong with either of those; they're just not my cup of tea.

Addy Shadd is an elderly woman in her 70s who manages to acquire a five-year-old ward, much like you would acquire a stray cat that won't leave your porch. (I admit, I am STILL shocked that no one went to the authorities or tried to find Sharla's mother.) She isn't too keen to be taking care of a little girl after living most of her life alone, but of course, Sharla ends up bringing the old woman joy and purpose in her twilight years.

Interspersed with the story of Addy raising Sharla are many flashbacks telling Addy's story as a teenager and a young woman. And here's where I began to lose it. As often as I enjoy the flashback method of telling a story, here it didn't quite work. The reader starts to become so invested in Addy's story that the Sharla storyline ends up as a distraction. Not only that, but I had to wonder why Lansens would treat Addy so poorly. Literally every happy event that Addy has is ruined by some horrific and tragic event. It just got to be too, too much.

Not only is the plot rather contrived (and of course, all the loose ends are tied up so very neatly at the end, which the reader can see coming from a mile away), but the writing wasn't all that great either. Too often it felt clumsy and choppy. And, near the end, I wanted to throw the book across the room when it referred to a family as "the Williams." This is my last name, so I am particular about it. Our family is "the Williamses," plural!

This is a pretty fluffy beach read that isn't even particularly well-written, but it seems to be popular here on Goodreads. Your mileage may vary from my experience.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Canadian author, love to read books by them and especially so when the fictional stories are told in my neck of the woods, Essex County area of Ontario. What I dislike in these stories are the back and forth in timelines, along with a lot of dreaming of Addy’s olden days. However this book did it effortlessly, an easy enjoyable read.

[Carinya Kappler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The unforgiving reality of life in a Trailer Park somewhere near Ontario makes for sad reading. Here the most vulnerable members of society eke out the barest of existences, alternatively sustaining and denigrating their equally impoverished neighbours.
It is easier to be brave if you possess good health, youth and vigor. The hero of this book has lost these attributes but still finds the courage to change the life of another human. Not only does the little fat abandoned girl she embraces draw on her current depleted stocks of energy and funds but also muddles her mind as she relives the brutality and circumstance that she has endured over her own lifetime.
Grief not edged with bitterness is a rare commodity. Addy Shadd as a child had experienced betrayal, disappointment and grief very early in her life. She was a person without malice who loved and lost many times over. Her brother who misguidedly sacrificed his young life to preserve some vestige of honour for Addy, his sister, lived on in her mind and constantly talked with and advised her. Towards the end of her life, as she gradually slipped away from reality, the influence of these figures in her mind grew stronger.
I admired the way love and trust developed between the old woman and the girl. Each recognised in the other a kindred dispossessed soul. Each had been discarded by the very people they most needed and yet had the courage to love again.
This is a tale of devotion, neglect and heartbreak. It has an element of ultimate homecoming, spiritual for Addy and physical for Sharla. It is a story of loss and hardship but through the twisted wrecks of lives the reader can clearly distinguish the ringing bell of hope resounding for a better future. Carinya

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just so you know, I don't do a well written review. I leave those to my sweet friends Eleanor and SuziQOregon. In spite of that, this is a book that deserves an attempt at a review for my friends who read.

Books that start with old people and flash back to their earlier lives will always capture my attention. Addy Shadd not only captured me, but touched something a little deeper while reading her story in this book. As I turned the last page and closed the book, I was surprised to discover tears on my cheeks.

Addy is 70+ years old and an unrelated child, 5-year-old Sharla Cody, is dumped on her doorstep for the summer. Soon the summer becomes forever. Unloved Sharla becomes a beloved child. Lonely Addy becomes more than she thought she would at her age. Of course their lives are dramatically changed. Circumstances would demand they must.

The flashbacks to Addy's life are detailed with joy and sorrow. Enough that you feel you've lived life with her when you finish the book.

Rush Home Road will draw you in. Enjoy.

[Sharon Huether · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rush Home Road ..by .. Lori Lansens .. An older woman saw a neighbor girl that was abandoned by her mother. The mother gave Addy some of Sharlas clothes and left the area never to return. Addy cared for Sharla as if she was her own child. Both of Addy's children had died, one at birth and the other a six years of age. Addy now had a sense of purpose teaching Sharla right from wrong and good manners too. The story beautifully written. Every other chapter reminiscing on Addy's past. After several years Sharla found her real father and Addy's friend and family were waiting for her in Heaven .

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is both uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time. Addy Shadd has got to be one of the greatest characters written in fiction. She has been through so much in her life and yet has survived with an amazing outlook on life, and she passes her wisdom on to Sharla, a 5 year old who is foisted on her.

The story switches between Addy's back story and the current situation between Addy and Sharla. Both are related with compassion but in unflinching detail. Neither had an easy life.

This is a book that you don't want to end. It's hard to believe that this is a first novel for Lori Lansens. I loved "The Girls". Now I also recommend this book.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say that I enjoyed meeting Addy and Sharla would be an understatement. Such a wonderfully written book. I don't usually enjoy a book full of coincidences but this book had me hoping that each step in the journey would lead them to peace and home.

[Tami Carpel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book and reading of Addy's life although she had been through so much! It seemed a little long for me but felt that way because her life story had to be told. It made me laugh, cry, and get angry and if you read it, I know it will make you do all 3 too! A definite recommend!

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you ever read a book that you didn't want to end? Or that you hated to leave the characters? That's how I felt toward the end of this book. Lori Lansens' story grabbed me on the first page to the last. Beautifully written!