Reading Group Guide
Questions and topics for discussion
1. Addy Shadd is almost seventy years older than Sharla Cody, but in many ways they share a similar past. How would you compare the two? How do their similarities help them understand each other?
2. Addy worries that the story of her life will be lost when she dies, since there’s no one to tell it to. How does the unexpected arrival of Sharla help Addy reclaim her own troubled past? Why do you suppose so many of us are drawn to stories and storytelling?
3. Addy grows up in the early 1900s in Rusholme, which she calls a “rare town” because it was founded by slaves and continues to be populated mostly by black people. In the course of her life, Addy encounters many different attitudes toward race. In what ways do cross-racial relations progress over time for her? In what ways do they stay the same? How would you compare these attitudes with those in your own hometown?
4. Ever since Addy’s younger brother, Lil’ Leam, died, he has been there with her as a guiding voice. How do the dead play a role in the novel? Discuss ways in which the past lives on in your own life.
5. Home and family are important themes in the book. Addy has had many homes in her life and has been a part of many families. Where do you suppose Addy felt she most belonged? What are the key elements that make a home a home—and a family a family?
6. Addy refers to Sharla occasionally as a “lost child.” Addy has also lost two children, both of whom died early on. How do these two types of “loss” relate to each other? What does Addy come to learn about her mother, who abandoned her but who had also “lost” her and her brother Leam?
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7. When Addy arrives in Chatham, she is taken in by Mary Alice and Hamond. Mary Alice tries to set Addy up with a local young man, Gabriel Green. Later, we learn that Mary Alice and Gabriel shared a desperate—if hopeless—love. Discuss the different types of love portrayed in the book. Which were you surprised by? What do you think Addy has learned about love over her long life?
8. Addy teaches Sharla about the difference between right and wrong. The difference, though, can sometimes be confusing. What are some examples of events in the book that seem right but are actually wrong, or vice versa? What would you do in those circumstances?
9. Forgiveness plays an important role in Rush Home Road. Partway through the novel, Addy vows that she will never forgive her father, Wallace, for what he did. In the end, though, she does forgive him. What made it possible for Addy to change her mind? How did the novel make you think about forgiveness? If you were Addy Shadd, would you forgive Wallace?
10. At the end of the novel, Addy finally returns to Rusholme. How would you describe her mixed emotions upon returning to her hometown at last? Were you surprised by her reaction? Did you find the novel’s conclusion satisfying?
