Rush Home Road

by Lori Lansens

Alfred A Knopf Canada, 547 pages.

Rush Home Road tells the story of Adelaide (Addy) Shadd, an old black woman who lives in a trailor park and suddenly finds herself the sole guardian of an odd but endearing five-year-old girl, Sharla Cody. The story switches back and forth between the present, as Addy and Sharla adjust to each other, and the past events of Adelaide's eventful life.

At some point the past events become somewhat wrenching to read, as tragedy piles on tragedy in Adelaide's life. I started bracing myself to prepare for what disaster was going to happen next.

Fortunately, the gut-wrenching past is made more palatable by the present scenes, which are mostly focused on the positive development of the relationship between the old woman and the child. And, it has to be said, not everything that happens to past Adelaide is terrible.

Still, it would probably be too much to recommend the book were it not for Lansen's skill in presenting character and the veil that perspective casts over events. Everyone in this novel, even minor characters, seems well-rounded, distinct, and real. If you've never met people like this before, after reading this novel, you'll feel like you have.

Though not a first-person narrative, most of the book does take place from Adelaide's point of view, and Lansen is very good at exploring how her perspective colors events. The reader, right along with Addy, looks back and views many events we've already read about in a different based on Addy's new insights and knowledge. As Addy's mind starts to “go” with age, so goes the narrative; the jumps between present and past are more frequent and less distinct.

Lansens' skills in these areas raises what could have been merely a “turgid melodrama” to something approaching literature. This is her first novel; I'll be very curious to see what comes up with next.