Girl runner : a novel
As a young runner, Aganetha Smart became a celebrity by winning a gold medal for Canada in the 1928 Olympics. Now, at age 104, she lives alone in a nursing home, all but forgotten by history, until two young strangers appear asking to interview her. Still yearning for adventure, she readily agrees and the two strangers take her on an outing across rural Ontario to the farm where she was raised, causing Aganthea to reflect on her childhood and her struggles to make an independent life for herself.
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Historical fiction. Domestic fiction. Fiction. |
- ISBN: 1770894322
- ISBN: 9781770894327
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Physical Description
print
ix, 363 pages : map - Publisher [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 2014.
Content descriptions
Immediate Source of Acquisition Note: | LSC 29.95 |
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Summary
Girl Runner
Girl Runneris 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 Runneris 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.