Girl Runner

Originally posted on bluchickenninja.com.

I have to admit when I first got this book I assumed it was non-fiction. I was quite surprised to find out it wasn't but I enjoyed it anyway. It is quite similar to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Hundred-Year-Old Man, we see Aganetha at the age of 104 looking back on her life. Though I think this novel is quite a bit more serious.

This book is about running and the Olympics. The way the author writes about running is so lyrical it will make you want to go outside and run. But it is also about women's rights and unwanted pregnancy. I have to admit when I got to the end of this book I refused to believe I was finished. It was a lovely book to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think everyone should read this.

I loved the parts about running, but the family drama and present-day scenes didn't do it for me and took up too much of the book for my taste. I wanted to hear more about training and gear and racing in the 1920s in Canada and more about the races she ran posing as a man later in life, which were mentioned in only the most passing of all possible passings. But I'm a selfish reader. I should probably be trying to satisfy this thirst elsewhere.