BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from John Irving’s “In One Person.”
Ruth Cole is a complex, often self-contradictory character–a “difficult” woman. By no means is she conventionally “nice,” but she will never be forgotten.
Ruth’s story is told in three parts, each focusing on a crucial time in her life. When we first meet her–on Long Island, in the summer of 1958–Ruth is only four.
The … only four.
The second window into Ruth’s life opens in the fall of 1990, when Ruth is an unmarried woman whose personal life is not nearly as successful as her literary career. She distrusts her judgment in men, for good reason.
A Widow for One Year closes in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth Cole is a forty-one-year-old widow and mother. She’s about to fall in love for the first time.
Richly comic, as well as deeply disturbing A Widow for One Year is a multilayered love story of astonishing emotional force. Both ribald and erotic, it is also a brilliant novel about the passage of time and the relentlessness of grief.
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I’m currently reading and enjoying A Prayer for Owen Meany which reminds me how much I loved another of John Irving’s books, A Widow for One Year. It tells the story of a girl named Ruth whose parents conceive her in an attempt to replace the void left by the accidental death of their teenage sons. It is not a quick read and I enjoyed it more for its character exploration than plot — watching the lives of Ruth, her parents, and their boarding student develop is extremely compelling. However the main reason I love this book is that it is an incredibly thought provoking exploration of how families deal with grief, loss, and the difficulty of moving forward after tragedy.
Read it years ago, but like all of John Irving’s books, the quirky characters and story line have stayed with me. You read him because you love good writing.
John Irving takes you to places (in spirit, mind and setting) where no other author can. I love reading his books, although I don’t always love the characters. That never bothers me, because people are flawed. His characters are flawed–and sometimes weird, too. I don’t love EVERY one of his books but I do love READING every one, and I have read every one.
Big disappointment, read books by this author before, this didn’t measure up.
This was a big book. Often confusing and some stuff seemed irrelevant to the story… but continue reading it will be worth it.
I enjoyed the first half of the book, but could not continue reading when she got to the prostitute seeking portion. I normally like this author very much.
Not one if his best, but still a good read.
Quite wonderful. Couldn’t stop reading.
Love John Irving. Love his characters. Love this book
While John Irving is my all time favorite writer, this is not a book I’d recommend to anyone but a big fan like myself. I actually read the book years ago, and forgot about it until I saw “A Door in the Floor” starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger. After seeing that incredibly sad movie, I reread the book because I guess I just wasn’t depressed enough.
Well, I waded through the book again and I really wish I hadn’t. While the writing is beautiful Irving at his best, the book is so incredibly sad that I just wanted to curl up in a ball under my blankie.
Read it if you’re already an Irving fan, if you’re not, then read Owen Meany or Cider House Rules first.
John Irving is one of my favorite writers.
This is my least favorite of Irving’s novels, but the author’s writing will always be held to a higher standard than most current day authors. It’s hard to imagine writing any finer novels than THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE, & THE WORLD ACCCORDING TO OWEN MEANY, which preceded this novel. But, I’ve found there’s always something new in each of Irving’s novels, illustrative of his creativity and his genius as a writer.
Irving has one of the most recognizable styles in American letters. This book is the equal to Cider House, Garp, and Twisted River.
Really well written.