Rating: 
Summary: A lovely engaging read
Review: If Oprah's bookclub was back in business this would surely be a novel she would love. Black Canadian history, hardship, heartache and joy all figure prominantly in this very readable first novel. This is the story of Addy Shadd, an elderly Black woman with plenty of heartbreaking secrets in her past. Addy comes to "inherit" five year old Sharla Cody, a mixed race child with no father and a less than caring mother. The fascinating story of Addy's life is carefully weaved into her present relationship with Sharla, it makes for a story you won't want to put down. My only minor negative comment would be that at times the volume of tragedy in Addy's life seems overwhelming even for the reader. That aside, I would highly recommend seeking out this novel. 4.5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: A lovely engaging read
Review: If Oprah's bookclub was back in business this would surely be a novel she would love. Black Canadian history, hardship, heartache and joy all figure prominantly in this very readable first novel. This is the story of Addy Shadd, an elderly Black woman with plenty of heartbreaking secrets in her past. Addy comes to "inherit" five year old Sharla Cody, a mixed race child with no father and a less than caring mother. The fascinating story of Addy's life is carefully weaved into her present relationship with Sharla, it makes for a story you won't want to put down. My only minor negative comment would be that at times the volume of tragedy in Addy's life seems overwhelming even for the reader. That aside, I would highly recommend seeking out this novel. 4.5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful look at the Black Canadian heritage
Review: 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
Rating: 
Summary: Rush Out for This Classic
Review: Lori Lansens' book "Rush Home Road" was a literary journey into the life of Addy Shadd, an elderly Canadian woman whose life unfolds through a series of flashbacks, first-person accounts, and through the eyes of Sharla Cody, a biracial girl who is greatly influenced by Shadd's warmth and generosity. The beauty of this book is that Lansens keeps the reader guessing, fascinated, and intrigued by the experiences of Canadian Blacks. "Rush Home Road" is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: My Aunt gave me this book when I was home visiting in Toronto. I remember traveling down to Windsor to visit family so many times growing up before I moved to the States. Now I can put a story to those roads traveled buy so many people before me. "Rush Home Road" grabs you and loves you and you love it for telling you about Sharla and Addy.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it. Read it. And pass it on to those you love.
Review: This book is the first for Lori Lansens, yet it reads as if Ms Lansens has been writing for decades. She has written about love, life and places with an engaging honesty and convincing reality - yet the places and people are fictional. I read this book in a day simply because I could not put it down. My sincere wish is that Whoopi Goldberg does choose this book for film, as I believe it will be treasured alongside such classics as 'The Colour Purple' and the more recent 'Beloved'. "Rush Home Road" has made me a better person for having read it.
Rating:
Summary: One you won't Forget
Review: This is a book that is hard to put down. It takes you through Addy's life and the small child she has fallen in love with. I felt every emotion with this book. It would take turns I didn't expect and kept me wanting to turn the next page. This would have been an excellent choice in my opinion for Oprah's book club. I would recommend this book. It is defenitely one of my favorites
Rating:
Summary: Buy it. Read it. And pass it on to those you love.
Review: 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 !
Rating:
Summary: I could not put it down---- Recommended Read for Women
Review: 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 the references to local landmarks but can now better understand an important part of our history.
Rating:
Summary: A real story...
Review: This is a novel that took me into another world. The world of Sharla Cody and Adelaide Shadd. This book captured my interest that no other novel has done. It told a story about life, people, trust,love, pain, and sorrow. Moreover, throughout the ups and downs of Sharla and Addy's lives,it also told a story of finding and sharing happeniness with others. Reading this novel, my outlook of my own life has changed, as the life of Addy and Sharla showed me, you can go on and life is what you make it, even through troubles times. When I started reading this book I had a connection with the characters. As well, I am familiar with the surroundings of the setting, Southwertern Ontario Canada. This is a novel that I think everyone can relate to in oneway or another from all walks of life. I have shared this novel with family and friends and I enjoy speaking about this book with other readers who are looking for something new and adventurous. I'm not someone that you would call a bookworm, but when I started reading this novel, I could not (believe me) put this book down. I loved the way Lori Lansens switched from Addy's past life and the present life she was living with Sharla. After reading the novel,I still wonder what life is like for Addy and Sharla today. I wish and hope that there will be a continuation of Rush Home Road. More books need to be written like Rush Home Road....I look forward to more novels by Lori Lansens....Beautiful, Just a beautiful story.
| 
