“There’s not a better Southern author writing today than Lisa Patton. Funny, touching, and full of twists and turns. I couldn’t have loved it more.” – Fannie Flagg, New York Times bestselling author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café Rush is recommended by… Atlanta Journal Constitution as a Southern Beach Book SouthernLiving.com as a 2018 Beach Read Deep South Magazine’s Summer … SouthernLiving.com as a 2018 Beach Read
Deep South Magazine’s Summer Reading List
Southern Independent Bookseller’s Alliance as a SUMMER 2018 OKRA PICK
Modern Mrs. Darcy Fall Lineup
Set in modern day Oxford, Mississippi, on the Ole Miss campus, bestselling author Lisa Patton’s RUSH is a story about women–from both ends of the social ladder–discovering their voices and their empowerment.
Cali Watkins possesses all the qualities sororities are looking for in a potential new member. She’s kind and intelligent, makes friends easily, even plans to someday run for governor. But her resume lacks a vital ingredient. Pedigree. Without family money Cali’s chances of sorority membership are already thin, but she has an even bigger problem. If anyone discovers the dark family secrets she’s hiding, she’ll be dropped from Rush in an instant.
When Lilith Whitmore, the well-heeled House Corp President of Alpha Delta Beta, one of the premiere sororities on campus, appoints recent empty-nester Wilda to the Rush Advisory Board, Wilda can hardly believe her luck. What’s more, Lilith suggests their daughters, both incoming freshman, room together. What Wilda doesn’t know is that it’s all part of Lilith’s plan to ensure her own daughter receives an Alpha Delt bid–no matter what.
For twenty-five years, Miss Pearl–as her “babies” like to call her–has been housekeeper and a second mother to the Alpha Delt girls, even though it reminds her of a painful part of her past she’ll never forget. When an opportunity for promotion arises, it seems a natural fit. But Lilith Whitmore slams her Prada heel down fast, crushing Miss Pearl’s hopes of a better future. When Wilda and the girls find out, they devise a plan destined to change Alpha Delta Beta–and maybe the entire Greek system–forever.
Achingly poignant, yet laugh-out-loud funny, RUSH takes a sharp nuanced look at a centuries-old tradition while exploring the complex, intimate relationships between mothers and daughters and female friends. Brimming with heart and hope for a better tomorrow, RUSH is an uplifting novel universal to us all.
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Being a sorority girl, I had to read this book AND I am SO glad that I did! Unfortunately for me, I did not get the experience of living in a greek house so I lived vicariously through the words on the pages. The story was a delightful read and brought light to the workings of sorority life. You would like to hope that greek life isn’t like the book but you really never know. I caught myself smiling, chuckling, shaking my head, and more while reading this book poolside. A great girls’ weekend read!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The jacket cover gives a good description of the subject matter, therefore no need to delve in there! The dialogue between students, staff and family is quite realistic. While reading each character’s segment, you feel a little like the proverbial “fly on the wall” watching the characters and plot transpire. Her characters are very believable, (I truly believe we all know someone a little akin to each of them.) Lisa Patton offers insight into sorrority, campus life and relationships, and belief systems in the South that exist even today. I have never read this author before but would definitely read her works again. I applaud her for the enlightening and entertaining revelations that tug at the heart. Loved her personal message a the end of the book.
Really enjoyed this one.
Author Lisa Patton (“Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter,” “Yankee Doodle Dixie” and “Southern as a Second Language”) joined a sorority while studying at the University of Alabama. She and her “sisters” loved the house staff, those women who cooked their meals and cleaned their bathrooms. ”
As a college student it never once crossed my mind, and I’m betting it never crossed the minds of other sorority girls, to ask if these women had healthcare or retirement benefits,” she writes in the back of her latest novel, “Rush.” “After all, House business was none of our business.”
Later, when Patton attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new sorority house, she was both amazed at the luxury of the mansion and learning that staff had no health insurance, despite the fact that students in SEC sororities now pay as much as $7,600 per semester and providing staff members with health insurance might only raise their fees as low as $15 per month. “I learned this was not only true at my sorority house, but at the majority of sorority and fraternity houses on campus,” she writes. “And not just at Alabama, but all over the South and possibly the country.” At the time of her writing “Rush,” there was also no African American House Directors of National Panhellenic Sororities in the SEC.
Which is how “Rush” came to be. The story follows several narrators, two girls rushing the fictional Alpha Delta Beta at Ole Miss, the mother of one of those girls who’s talked into serving on the Rush Advisory Board and Miss Pearl, the housekeeper who’s been at the sorority for 25 years, has no health insurance and makes $11.50 an hour but is beloved by all.
The nemesis of all four women is Lilith Whitmore, a wealthy woman who’s appointed sorority House Corp President and determined to have her way in all things, including getting her daughter a bid to Alpha Delta at all costs. The book follows the two women as they go through rush, hoping for a bid to a sorority, and the mothers’ experiences during it all. Meanwhile, Pearl’s dear friend Fee becomes ill — she has no health insurance either — and a promotion prospect arises, one that’s difficult for Pearl to obtain due to Lilith’s insistence on her having a college degree, which is really an excuse to keep the status quo. Pearl is like a second mother to the girls and they rally to her defense, a move that may change Alpha Delta forever.
On one hand, “Rush” feels like “The Help” visits sorority row, where despite the inclusive narratives the white characters are the ones who save the African American help. However, Pearl never comes across helpless and it’s her defiance that spurs the sorority girls into action. The novel also examines white sorority life from the inside and we, as readers, get to view the good and the bad with justice finding a place in a system too long overdue for an overhaul. Patton has her reasons for writing “Rush” and one can hope that sorority girls reading this novel will examine their own feelings about the status quo and what needs to be changed.
On the surface this book is a light-hearted look at what goes on during sorority rush at a Southern university. But there is depth in the story that displays courage and fearlessness on the part of young women which is inspiring.
An interesting story. Other reviews are right-“The Help” meets college/sorority life. I would love to know how accurate the portrayal of sorority life and all the rituals that go with it really are, since I’ve never been in a sorority-the author, however, has so I’m assuming it’s fairly accurate. The book kept up a nice pace, and the characters were (mostly) likable and grew with the story. This was a great peek into the workings of a sorority and the sisterhood that comes with it
A superb read about sorority life in Mississippi in the year 2016! This novel delves into the intricacies of rush life at a major university–from making good impressions, receiving judgments for one’s past, and ohmygosh–the cost of keeping up appearances! A more important aspect of this novel is the issue of racism. A major character, Pearl, is a maid who takes care of her sorority girls as if she’s their mother. She is paid a measly wage with no health benefits, and because of her skin color, is told she is not qualified for a higher paying job. Her sorority girls come together in a major coup to help their beloved Pearl. The characters in this novel are so real and very interesting! This was a heartwarming and lovely read with a happily ever after!
Had to abandon this one. Maybe it was my utter ignorance of the Sorority scene but I found it incredibly annoying and unlikeable. I don’t need to identify with characters but I need to find them interesting…none of whom were.
This was a look into generational racism in the south. Hopefully, this generation will change the sorority pledge system’s prejudices against the less than wealthy and people of color.
A story about growing up; college life and learning about discrimination and bias.. H ow families can believe they are doing the right thing for their children but have no idea what these children want or need. A really good story.
Loved loved loved this book. Hated to see it end
An enlightening story. I’m a sorority member, but never had the house staff that the southern schools do. Comparable to The Help.
Still reading it. Pure nostalgia with an upscale twist as I was a sorority member who got few bids years ago at Kansas U….went on to hold office and later went to NYC as alumnae president. Lilith was a perfect name for Mrs. Whitmore. 🙂
Amazing book with wonderful narration! As a sorority member from my college days this book was so much fun to read. I loved the way that the author really made me feel like I was on the campus of Ole Miss! I have to say that I looked forward to my time walking because I was able to listen to this book! I am searching the author’s books for my next read!
Charming, but with a bite and a social consciousness. This novel is far more than just a close look at sorority rituals at “Old Miss,” though it definitely gives a behind-the-scenes look at sorority rush and sorority life. While it reads like a Young Adult/Coming-of-Age novel in spots, it’s actually a novel that should hit home with people of any age. The adults in the story are as important as the young freshmen co-eds. One of the co-ed’s mother, caught a kind of middle-age coming of age identity crisis comes close to stealing the show.
RUSH is a great read, a gentle-hearted literary novel of the New South telling an eye-opening, entertaining story in impeccably well-written prose and deserves the accolades that are coming its way. Patton, herself a Deep South native, University of Alabama graduate, and former sorority member, writes the story with a careful eye for telling details, an honest ear for dialect and dialogue, an artistic talent for descriptive passages, and a voice ringing with authenticity. More than that—she tells the story with insight and compassion.
One of the main characters, Miss Pearl, an underpaid African-American house maid in a sorority house at “Old Miss,” butts heads with what she calls “generational prejudice” in a dramatic conflict with a powerful bigot. But this is not a violent book like so many which address racism in the South. No one is killed or lynched, though some of the insidious ways racism hurts us all are revealed in ways that are hard to ignore. There’s definitely a message in this book—but it doesn’t preach or knock the reader over the head. Rather, in the writers’ workshop mantra, it “shows, not tells” the way racism hurts us all.
All of her books are awesome. This one was no exception. Read it in a day
3.5 STARS
I had to keep reminding myself that this was set in 2016. There were times that I felt like I was back in the dark ages. I felt like Pearl was 100 years old, not 44 (same age as me), with the way she talked about her babies. Rush takes place in the South at Ole Miss and I realize there is racism everywhere but it seemed like we were back in the times of segregation. This is a book that not everyone is going to love. The talk of racism is not a topic that everyone can handle. Lisa Patton takes a topic that is not easy and turns it into a story that teaches lessons, opens eyes, and gives a history lesson all in one.
The story is told from many different perspectives. It is easy to follow and know who is telling their story. I loved hearing about the college life from different POVs. Each character had their own opinions and it was interesting to learn how they viewed college, rushing, their families, and the south. Cali and Ellie are my favorites. They took what could have been a horrible situation and changed their town, their families, and their college experiences.
Rush is a book that will empower our youth, open the reader’s eyes to changes that must be made in the world, and tell a story that will stay with you.
A novel with heart, soul and thought provoking questions. If you like Southern based novels, then you’ll enjoy this story.
RUSH is a beautifully written coming-of-age novel, set against the backdrop of sorority rush in the south. Lisa Patton weaves an unforgettable story of friendship and the bonds between mothers and daughters, while also exploring larger themes of class, race, and inequality. An extraordinary and important novel — I absolutely loved it!
In RUSH, Lisa Patton digs deep into the secret world of sorority rush where sisterhood is held sacred. But beneath these bonds a groundswell is emerging threatening to break apart the sisterhood and dismantle the sorority unless a long standing tradition can be broken. This engaging and poignant novel will have you wanting to jump right in along with the characters to fight for what is right.