A Widow for One Year A Novel
A Widow for One Year by John Irving is a novel published by Random House Publishing Group on March 23, 1999. This edition spans 560 pages and is presented in English. The narrative follows Ruth Cole through three significant periods of her life, beginning with her childhood on Long Island in 1958, continuing into her adult years as an unmarried woman in 1990, and culminating in 1995 when she is a forty-one-year-old widow. The story intertwines themes of grief and love, showcasing the complexities of Ruth’s personal and literary journeys.
Readers will find a multilayered exploration of Ruth’s experiences, marked by both elegiac and sensual elements. The book delves into her struggles and triumphs, highlighting the emotional force of her relationships and the impact of her past. With its blend of contemporary and romantic themes, A Widow for One Year offers a rich narrative that reflects on coming of age and the intricacies of human connections.
Official synopsis Publisher
“A Widow For One Year will appeal to readers who like old-fashioned storytelling mixed with modern sensitivities. . . . Irving is among the few novelists who can write a novel about grief and fill it with ribald humor soaked in irony.”—USA Today
In A Widow for One Year, we follow Ruth Cole through three of the most pivotal times in her life: from her girlhood on Long Island (in the summer of 1958) through the fall of 1990 (when she is an unmarried woman whose personal life is not nearly as successful as her literary career), and at last in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth is a forty-one-year-old widow and mother (and she’s about to fall in love for the first time). Both elegiac and sensual, A Widow for One Year is a multilayered love story of astonishing emotional force.
Praise for A Widow for One Year
“Compelling . . . By turns antic and moving, lusty and tragic, A Widow for One Year is bursting with memorable moments. . . . A testament to one of life’s most difficult lessons: In the end, you just have to find a way to keep going.”—San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle
“A sprawling 19th-century production, chock full of bizarre coincidences, multiple plot lines, lengthy digressions, and stories within stories. . . . An engaging and often affecting fable, a fairy tale that manages to be old-fashioned and modern all at once.”—The New York Times
“[Irving’s] characters can beguile us onto thin ice and persuade us to dance there. His instinctive mark is the moral choice stripped bare, and his aim is impressive. What’s more, there’s hardly a writer alive who can match his control of the omniscient point of view.”—The Washington Post Book World
“In the sprawling, deeply felt A Widow for One Year, John Irving has delivered his best novel since The World According to Garp. . . . Like a warm bath, it’s a great pleasure to immerse yourself in.”—Entertainment Weekly
“John Irving is arguably the American Balzac, or perhaps our Dickens—a rip-roaring storyteller whose intricate plot machinery is propelled by good old-fashioned greed, foolishness and passion.”—The Nation
“Powerful . . . a masterpiece.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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