Anne Audain and John L Parker Jun: Uncommon Heart

Audain was one of a trio of female runners, including Lorraine Moller and Allison Roe, who will always be part of this country's halcyon days of distance running in the 1970s.

Audain became Nike's first female contract athlete, and after a career as a Commonwealth Games and Olympics representative, became a successful professional road runner in America.

Her personal story is the stuff of a mini-series. She did not realise her destiny to run until after operations to correct deformed feet when she was 13. Some scandal has already been reported, notably her claim that coach Gordon Pirie wanted sex from her when she was 16, an advance she successfully rejected.

Audain is not afraid to voice a certain cattiness towards some of her fellow women runners and competitors, but somehow the story comes across as flat and matter-of-fact. Audain may have needed a finer ghostwriter.

Cedarwinds Publishing

$29.95