By Lori Lansens
Time Warner Audio Books - May 2002
ISBN: 1586212788 - Abridged Audio - 4 cassettes
General Fiction
Historical, 1909 - 1978
for explicit sex and language
Reviewed by: Brenda Weeaks, MyShelf.Com
Buy
a Copy
Adelaide Shadd's life stretched from Rusholme to Detroit to a trailer park in Chatham, Ontario. Her life is a tale of love, cruelty, running, betrayal, passion, sacrificing, accepting, and finally returning. Without a doubt, it's a stirring tale begging to be told on the big screen.
The seventy-year-old black woman's trip down memory lane begins when she takes in five-year-old Sharla, whose mother is trying to find a place for her to stay the summer. In Sharla's first five years, she has been treated horribly and exposed to her mother's immoral life. They are the kind of images which will most likely reach out and draw emotions from the more sensitive readers. When Addy takes Sharla in, the moments of Sharla going back and forth between the trailer houses preparing herself to move in with a complete stranger is heart wrenching, but yet shows the strength of this remarkable child. Right away, these two realize they need each other and don't seem to take it hard when it's discovered Sharla's mom has run off. Addy helps Sharla start school and deal with a teacher who judges the child for being a product of an interracial relationship. Sharla unknowingly makes Addy deal with her heartbreaking past. Throughout the storyline of Addy and Sharla, the author takes the readers/listeners back to Addy's younger days, retelling her past memories, the kind one can't turn away from. As Addy recalls her past, the readers are made aware that her lost loved ones come to visit every now and again, and even though they talk to her and reveal things, it's never really enough to help Addy understand her past or her father's decision. As I listened to the audio, I realized that Addy couldn't help Sharla with what she needed most -- not until Addy was ready to come full circle and face her own soul's need. Without realizing it, Addy and Sharla put it in God's hands and go about living.
On Time Warner's audio version, the
award-winning actress, Ruby Dee reads "Rush Home Road." Her
rich voice reciting Ms. Lansens's poignant tale with depth and soul, conjuring
up images of life from the early 1900s thru to 1978, had me mesmerized.