The Bookish Island's Book Review:
Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder
Are there spoilers?
I don't believe there are any.
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Title: Girl RunnerAuthor: Carrie Snyder
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Pages: 288
Published: 2015
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Sports, Canada
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Date Read: Feb 6, 2019
Rating: ★★★★☆
Girl Runner is the story of Aganetha Smart, a former Olympic athlete who was famous in the 1920s, but now, at age 104, lives in a nursing home, alone and forgotten by history. For Aganetha, a competitive and ambitious woman, her life remains present and unfinished in her mind.
When her quiet life 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 of WWI and the Spanish flu epidemic, the optimism of the 1920s and the sacrifices of the 1930s play out in Aganetha's mind, as she wrestles with the confusion and displacement of the present.
Part historical page-turner, part contemporary mystery, Girl Runner is an engaging and endearing story about family, ambition, athletics and the dedicated pursuit of one's passions. It is also, ultimately, about a woman who follows the singular, heart-breaking and inspiring course of her life until the very end.
My Review:
Girl Runner was a book I've been holding back on. It's probably one of the books I've had since the beginning of this blog's journey. And I didn't really want to read it. Not because I didn't like what it could be but because I wasn't feeling it.
With one of the challenges for Reading Women being to read a book about a female athlete. I knew that this book would be exactly what I needed.
Aganetha's story had a lot of interesting twists that intertwined with the past and present. As a runner who was an Olympic gold medalist. In a fictional type of biography.
And Aganetha dealt with a lot of things from members of her family not approving of her dream to be a runner, to figuring out her sexuality and dealing with some relationships she later had. And later as a 100+ year old her life wasn't all that easy.
I mean, she just saw the world differently. She was a fearless human being. A runner, and a baseball player in a time where there weren't a lot of women who did that. Especially without being shut down by men or the rest of the world.
The characters were like an interesting cast of people from different places and circumstances. From her family at her childhood farm to the other athletes who became her friends.
I found myself liking Aganetha and the story she told. How simple and unique she was and how much her dreams mattered to her and the work she put in. I liked her for that. But I also liked how she dealt with her struggles and not being able to do certain things no matter how much she wanted to. I found myself hating the people who hurt her and cheering her on when she was happy.
And I think that with my history with historical fiction books it was refrehing to read. Because unlike some historical fiction books I've read before I actually liked and enjoyed reading this one.
With one of the challenges for Reading Women being to read a book about a female athlete. I knew that this book would be exactly what I needed.
Aganetha's story had a lot of interesting twists that intertwined with the past and present. As a runner who was an Olympic gold medalist. In a fictional type of biography.
And Aganetha dealt with a lot of things from members of her family not approving of her dream to be a runner, to figuring out her sexuality and dealing with some relationships she later had. And later as a 100+ year old her life wasn't all that easy.
I mean, she just saw the world differently. She was a fearless human being. A runner, and a baseball player in a time where there weren't a lot of women who did that. Especially without being shut down by men or the rest of the world.
The characters were like an interesting cast of people from different places and circumstances. From her family at her childhood farm to the other athletes who became her friends.
I found myself liking Aganetha and the story she told. How simple and unique she was and how much her dreams mattered to her and the work she put in. I liked her for that. But I also liked how she dealt with her struggles and not being able to do certain things no matter how much she wanted to. I found myself hating the people who hurt her and cheering her on when she was happy.
And I think that with my history with historical fiction books it was refrehing to read. Because unlike some historical fiction books I've read before I actually liked and enjoyed reading this one.
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