It is Fall at Ole Miss and the students and staff at the Alpha Delta Beta sorority house have one thing on their mind - Rush. Miss Pearl is the housekeeper and surrogate mother to these young ladies. She has worked at the house for years and has seen hundreds of young ladies come and go. She was there when Miss Lilith and Miss Wilda were pledging. Now Lilith and Wilda are grown with daughters getting ready to Rush. They are from two different worlds, but their daughters are roommates, preparing for Rush, and as former Alpha Delta Beta pledges, they are on the advisory board for Rush. As the girls meet the other girls on their floor and start to form lifelong friendships they start to realize the inequities that exist in their very own little world. Those inequities become glaring during the Rush process and once they get settled in the sorority and one of the house's staff faces a life-threatening illness. They realize all that they take for granted and decide to do something about it. Something that could possibly change the way the Greek system works all over the country.
I nearly gave up on Rush more than once. Having never been a member of the Greek system, I found myself getting frustrated at some of the behaviors and the people who found them acceptable. I am glad that I stuck it out though because the author used this book to highlight social inequities that still exist, and especially with the privileged lives of those in a sorority house. Lisa Patton uses this platform to show what can happen when young women recognize those inequalities and are determined to make a change. To make things better. The book is told from three viewpoints, that of Miss Pearl, Wilda, and Callie, a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks. One thing that I noticed was that Miss Pearl was forty-four years old, it is mentioned several times, but she acted so much older than that. I am forty-three. While I have my moments, I don't act like Miss Pearl did, like she was just plum worn out. I really liked the way the book ended, I like how these girls did make a change. Never did the author indicate that everything was going to be perfect, but better. And the generational racism that still exists throughout our country has come up against a generation who will no longer stand for it.
Bottom Line - Rush is one of those books that takes a serious concept like generational racism and puts it into a context that can be understood by all generations, from all walks of life. It takes a while for that intent to be clear to the reader, so trust me when I say don't give up on it. You won't be disappointed.
Details:
- Rush by Lisa Patton
- On Instagram
- Pages: 416
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press
- Publication Date: 8/21/18
- Buy it Here!
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