This is a story that is as interesting as it is inspiring. I am SO glad that I picked it up at my local library.
Girl Runner is the story of Aganetha Smart, a former Olympic athlete who was famous in the 1920’s. But now at age 104, she lives in a nursing home, along and forgotten by history.
For Aganetha, a competitive and ambitious woman, her life remains present and unfinished in her mind.
When her quiet routine is disturbed by the unexpected arrival of two young strangers, Aganetha begins to reflect on her childhood in rural Ontario and her struggles to make an independent life for herself in the city.
Without revealing who they are, or what they may want from her, the visitors take Aganetha on an outing from the nursing home. As ready as ever for adventure, Aganetha’s memories are stirred when the pair return her to the family farm where she was raised. The devastation on WWI and the Spanish flu epidemic, the optimism of the 1920’s and the sacrifices of the 1930’s, play out in Aganetha’s mind as she wrestles with the confusion and displacement of the present.
This story is part historical page-turner and part contemporary mystery. The story is an engaging and endearing story about family, ambition, athletics, and the dedicated pursuit of one’s passions.
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by: Irene S. Roth
Irene Roth's Canadian Book Review Blog 