Who She Is - Diane Byington
5 STARS!
ABOUT THE BOOK -
In the fall of 1967, Faye Smith’s family moves to Florida to work in the orange groves, and she has to start a new school… again. She tries out for the track team, knowing her mother would never approve because of Faye’s epilepsy.
When Faye discovers she has a talent for distance running, she and her friend Francie decide to enter the Boston Marathon, even though women aren’t allowed to compete. Desperate to climb out of the rut of poverty, Faye is determined to take part and win a college scholarship.
After the school bully tries to run her down with his car, a strange memory surfaces—a scene Faye doesn’t recognize. Her parents insist that it’s a symptom of her epilepsy, but Faye thinks they might be lying, especially when it keeps happening. To get her life on the right path, she’ll need to figure out what her parents are hiding and never lose sight of the finish line.
When Faye discovers she has a talent for distance running, she and her friend Francie decide to enter the Boston Marathon, even though women aren’t allowed to compete. Desperate to climb out of the rut of poverty, Faye is determined to take part and win a college scholarship.
After the school bully tries to run her down with his car, a strange memory surfaces—a scene Faye doesn’t recognize. Her parents insist that it’s a symptom of her epilepsy, but Faye thinks they might be lying, especially when it keeps happening. To get her life on the right path, she’ll need to figure out what her parents are hiding and never lose sight of the finish line.
Diane Byington has been a tenured college professor, yoga teacher, psychotherapist, and executive coach. Also, she raised goats for fiber and once took a job cooking hot dogs for a NASCAR event. She still enjoys spinning and weaving, but she hasn’t eaten a hot dog or watched a car race since.
Besides reading and writing, Diane loves to hike, kayak, and photograph sunsets. She and her husband divide their time between Boulder, Colorado, and the small Central Florida town they discovered while doing research for her novel.
Visit her fabulous website - HERE
MY THOUGHTS -
I really loved this book! First - this book does not read like a debut novel, it is the writings of a well seasoned author. This story is about so many things - Women's rights in sports, racism, and another issue that I will not giveaway. I loved that the author gave lots of historical facts about women in sports (or lack of) and the Boston Marathon, it was very interesting to read! I am a "runner" myself, and I use quotes because I am a "baby runner" LOL a newbie, so I do what they call interval running (run, walk, run, walk etc.). I have done a handful of 5K's but can't even imagine running the Boston Marathon! So needless to say this made the story so much more interesting for me.
I am also very much for women's rights in general and very much against racism and prejudice of any kind! So I love where this book took me. I love what it stood for.
Excellent character development. I loved Faye, her friend Francie and their African American coach. I could see them running!
This story does have a few dark sides that are sad, but again I like where the author took it and how she did it - it was very tastefully done. And as for the little mystery that Faye was trying to figure out about herself - I did kind of had some of it figured out about half way through.
GREAT story - great ending! Loved it. This is definitely an author to keep an eye out for!
Read an excerpt - HERE
I voluntarily posted this review after receiving a copy of this book from the author - Thank You!!
Order your copy from Amazon - HERE
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