“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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I can’t say enough good things about the characters that Patton has brought to life in this book. They were a delight! If you enjoyed The Help, this is a must-read for you.
Rush is a powerful, moving book. There is an amazing cast of characters, all of which experience various degrees of growth. I loved reading about the rush process, as I never joined a sorority when I was in college. Honestly, I love everything about this story.
This book is important for all people to read, but especially those in the South that may hold onto some of these same beliefs. Read it.
/ 5 rounded up
BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD. This is how Rush by Lisa Patton made me feel. It is a beautiful book that touches on race, and was reminiscent of a Jodi Picoult novel.
What it’s about: Miss Pearl has been working at the sorority of Alpha Delt at Ole Miss for the past 25 years as a housekeeper and virtual mother to the girls, but when she tells the new House Corp President Lilith Whitmore that she would like to apply for a new promotion in the house, Lilith has a lot to say about it… and you can bet it’s because Miss Pearl is black. Cali Watkins is a freshman at Ole Miss and wants nothing more than to join a sorority, but will her past and lack of a pedigree or family money mean she can’t? Wilda Woodcock has just been appointed to the Rush Advisory Board and her daughter Ellie is rooming with Lilith’s daughter Annie Laurie, but what lengths will Lilith go to for her daughter to get a Rush bid? And what will Wilda do about Lilith?
The story is told from multiple viewpoints which I really enjoyed overall. We get in the minds of Wilda, Miss Pearl and Cali; and the only time I didn’t like this was when certain things were described from 2 different character’s POVs. For instance, I could have done without the description of Ellie and Annie Laurie’s room from both Cali and Wilda. Everything else about it was great though and I liked seeing the world through each of these characters.
Patton uses a lot of description in Rush, and I felt like I could see the Ole Miss campus while reading it. I loved the setting of Oxford, Mississippi for this novel and learning all about the process of rush. I was never in a sorority myself so the process is nothing like I have ever heard of and it was so interesting to read about. I also fell in love with the majority of the characters in the novel. Lilith was the character you love to hate, but besides her and her daughter most of the characters were very sweet and very relatable. I especially loved Wilda and Miss Pearl, but this book is full of amazing characters with lots of depth.
The truly beautiful thing Patton does in this novel, is the way she takes the subject of racism and infuses love, hope and laughter into it while still treating it with the seriousness it needs. Rush says you CAN change your attitude and make a difference in the world. I cried tears of both happiness and sadness while reading it, but the overall feel of the story was very heartwarming and uplifting. Besides racism, it touches on all kinds of relationships and how people can change for the better.
Final Thought: I really did love this book, and would recommend it to people who are fans of Jodi Picoult for the topic, and lovers of Southern fiction for the style in which it was written. It is a fairly long book at over 400 pages if you read the author’s note, but it was well worth all those pages and they turn very quickly. Rush is set in 2016, but is still more than relevant to 2018 which is sad but true. This country has come a long way, but it still has a long way to go. The bright side is that there is hope and we can make changes to the world we live in if we come together and fight for what’s right.
My Review of “Rush” by Lisa Patton
Lisa Patton, Author of “Rush” has written a enthralling, captivating, significant, unique, emotional and heartwarming perspective of sorority life in Oxford, Mississippi,, on the Ole Miss Campus. I loved Lisa Patton’s vivid descriptions, witty and tasteful details, and the colorful cast of characters in this southern novel. The Genres for this novel are Fiction and Women’s Fiction.
I attended a local college within commuting distance, and never had the time or options to join a sorority, and I enjoyed reading about the lifestyle and housing. What is so amazing is the realization that the houses that these girls lived in required help to feed, clean and keep it going. The women and men that helped to take care of the young women were there all hours and seemed to provide the emotional support and physical comfort that were required. I appreciate that the author brings this to our attention, instead of keeping it in the background.
The author describes the excitement of the young “girls” coming to college, and longing to have a place to belong. The process of finding a sorority, and being accepted is extremely anxiety provoking and there is high tension. The settling in , going to classes, finding friends and making and bonding ever-lasting friendships is important.
The author also discusses the roles of the parents, especially the mothers in this story. Some of the sorority life revolves around “Pedigrees” and being in a higher social class. There is still evidence of some discrimination against people of color, and people in a lower class by some of the characters.
I love that the author leaves us with the feeling that change is possible, courage, determination, love and hope are so important. I highly recommend this novel to readers of Women’s Fiction. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
Setting – Alpha Delta Beta sorority at Ole Miss University in Oxford, Mississippi.
438 sorority sisters – 437 white and one black
Miss Pearl is a black domestic worker at the house but more importantly she is the heart of the house – the girls rely on her for advice and for motherly love. When Miss Pearl is faced with blatant discrimination, the sorority sisters have to decide whether to take a stand or let things stay as they are.
The story is not only about Miss Pearl but also about Lilith and her daughter Anne Laurie, Wilda and her daughter Elle and Cali and her grandparents. These three daughters cover the social ladder from both ends but being high on the social ladder doesn’t equal caring and compassion for others. The story is told by three main characters – Miss Pearl, Wilda and Cali and it’s all about RUSH week on campus when the students find out if they’ve been accepted into a sorority.
I found this book to be funny and smart and very well written. From the parent’s perspective it’s about family and letting go of your children. From the student’s perspective, it’s a real coming of age story. And for Miss Pearl, it’s the story of love and creating a family with people who mean the most to you.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
Story delves into the Sorority Rush process at a prominent Southern University (Ole Miss) … the legacies, racism and the nerves girls go thru to get a bid. This books reminds me of a modern day ‘The Help’. The book shows different points of view from a parent caught up in it, the help that work at the Soriety House, and the girls pledging. The author does a good job of showing the good, bad and ugly, and makes no excuses for any of it. The story is interesting, characters are both likeable and despised, writing is clear and to-the-point. Thoroughly enjoyable read. Couldn’t put it down.
I received this ARC for review. Opinion is mine alone.
Rush by author Lisa Patton is so much more than about the pressures of RUSH for new students at SEC campuses. The story focuses on the stress of the campaigns both personal and cultural among the students as they seek acceptance into a sorority on the campus of Ole Miss in Oxford.
Miss Pearl, and three students Cali, Ellie, Annie Laurie, are the core of the story. Miss Pearl is more than the custodial help, she is the listening ear and the kind heart who cares about the students. She is wise beyond her 44 years and has secrets and heartaches along with aspirations of finishing her college education. There is competition among the girls and also a sense of camaraderie as the process for being accepted into a sorority is underway. There are always the mothers in the background who guide or PUSH the daughters into doing whatever is necessary to become accepted into the sorority they think is best.
The part of this story I felt was the very best, is when the students devise a plan to provide health benefits for the employees of all the sorority and fraternity houses on campus. I loved that the students became activists to right a wrong for Miss Pearl. They realized that sometimes the bylaws are biased toward a deserving person for a promotion. They had a formidable opponent in the character of Lillith, Annie Laurie’s mother.
This is a story which highlights the changing attitudes of southern people. Most of us are always willing to fight and right a wrong toward our brothers and sisters of color. Yes, there will always be hateful people who are conniving and try to manipulate, but the majority of southern people want equality and fairness for all.
Publication Date August 21, 2018
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
A wonderful well written book. It sadly reflects some of the deplorable happenings in today’s society- racists who insist they are not racist but in subtle ways put down people of different color. “Rush” tells the story of freshman students in a southern college anxious to be invited into a sorority. But- it tells so much more.
We meet lies, deceit, bribery as some parents attempt to have their daughters accepted to the most prestigious sororities. Then we find their daughters, the students, rallying for better treatment and higher wages for the workers. Their efforts bring them a feeling of love, camaraderie, forgiveness, of the power of goodness.
Definitely a good novel!