Rush: A Novel

Bestselling author Lisa Patton digs into exciting new territory with Rush, a story about mothers and daughters, sisterhood, tradition, and doing the right thing, now in trade paperback with a new epilogue!

Experience the phenomenon from a front row seat...

It's move-in day for college freshmen on the Ole Miss campus. Nobody wants to fit in more than Cali, a bright, small town girl with family secrets too scandalous for the well-to-do to imagine. Sorority rush is weeks away and without a pedigree, Cali doesn't have much of a chance at membership. Her dorm room alone is as plain as a cardigan sweater, while the girls next door have one that would make the finest of designers swoon.

Wilda, Alpha Delta Beta alum and rush advisor, has a daughter rushing in the fall, but Lilith, the well-heeled House Corp President, sees Wilda as a pushover and will stop at nothing to ensure her own daughter's legacy bid. Inside the Alpha Delt house, Miss Pearl has been housekeeper and second mother to the girls for years, even though it reminds her of a painful part of her past. When a chance for promotion arises, Lilith slams her Chimmy Choo heel down fast, crushing Miss Pearl's hopes of a better future. But once Wilda and the girls find out, they devise a plan destined to change Alpha Delta Beta--and maybe the entire Greek system--forever.

Lisa Patton's Rush takes a sharp nuanced look at a centuries-old tradition while examining the complex relationships between women and what happens when they dare to use their voices. Achingly poignant yet chock-full of humor, Rush is an uplifting novel universal to us all.

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Published Aug 21, 2018

416 pages

Average rating: 7.64

11 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Harrietaspy
May 04, 2025
8/10 stars
I appreciate this author trying to understand the inequities in the Southern Greek system. I get the tendency to say that it is all unintentional too. It feels more kind. But, until we are INTENTIONAL about looking at privilege and inequity it isn't going to really change. Only addressing things when they hit rock bottom or when someone has the guts to bring it up in the hopes that someone might care is nibbling at the edges. We know better now and when we see people, especially people of color, serving others, we must ask ourselves if they are being adequately compensated to live a full life. The base line of this is minimum wage. It is ridiculous to think that anyone can adequately take care of their health, family and retirement on $7.25/hour. I would guess that very few white people other than maybe teenagers with no work experience (and even then I kind of doubt it) make that wage. We know better. Now, let's do better.

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