A Runner's Guide to Rakiura, Jessica Howland Kany

Started this book with absolutely no idea what I was going to get, got through the first quarter with no idea what was going on, ended the whole thing thoroughly enjoying every word of it.

Maudie is the central character of this novel, a millenial New Yorker who, on assigment to cover Aotearoa New Zealand's southern-most running trails, takes herself to Rakiura Stewart Island. She's erratic, impulsive, and very American when she first arrives in the eccentric, self-sufficient, laid back community that captures her heart and energy. Despite a sense of constant "otherness" Maudie buries herself in this world of mutton birds, floating libraries, pub denizens, pāua divers and local myths, legends and rumours. She also takes up residence with a local identity, Vil, as his previous housemate, Fence, has headed off in seach of bigger fencing opportunities. This is a friendship that gently, and very naturally becomes more - especially as these two are outsiders and loners for very different reasons. Meanwhile back in New York Maude's stays in touch with her Uncle Buddy, and it's via the conversations and communications between them that we discover more about Maudie, what caused her physical differences, what happened to Buddy, and why she's running (in all interpretations of the word) away.

The other attraction of this novel has to be the way that the American, and ultimate city-girl Maudie finds herself beguiled and confused by the local community. Everything's different. The English language, outlooks and attitudes, lifestyles and aspirations. Maudie's confusion is often laugh out loud funny, frequently self-deprecating, inquisitive and full of the delight of discovery and expanded horizons.

On a deeper level, there's a lot being not said out loud about the different and same ways the past can cause damage that the future has to deal with. 

Finally, and perhaps a bit unexpectedly, there's the attraction of a slightly chaotic storytelling style, with multiple narratives running in parallel, keeping readers on their toes, giving you a real sense of Maudie's frequent confusion, the struggle she has to embrace the differences, and find a path that works for her. As part of these connecting stories, the reader is on a current timeline treasure hunt, with clues from the past, the timeline moving from present Rakiura to the past battlefields of Monte Cassino, and from post-war Paris to post-911 New York. Along with that buried treasure hunt, there's the not unexpected twist that nobody is quite sure what this "treasure" is; a desperate hunt for a missing man; environmental politics; an intermingling of cultures and beliefs; love; war; friendship; the joys of running; and a lot of personal reinvention. 

The style of this novel is breezy, and tongue in cheek, delivering some serious subject matter, and some not-so-serious moments, via the auspices of a terrific sense of place and society, populated by an engaging, and delightfully crazy, cast of characters of all shapes and sizes. Sure it's a bit complicated at times, but readers could also find themselves so invested in Maudie and those around her, they will happily jog on until the fog lifts and everything falls into place.