A Widow for One Year, by John Irving is full of heart and a myriad of quirky characters we have come to associate with Irving's writing. In this book, we follow Ruth Cole through three very pivotal times in her life, the first being when she is four years old in 1958 and living with her parents. There are two brothers, Thomas and Timothy who died before Ruth was born and all she knows of them are the many photos adorning their sprawling home in the Hamptons. A frequent ritual is to carry Ruth throughout the house as the myriad stories of her brothers give them life in her imagination. Her father, Ted Cole, is a very successful novelist of children's books complete with his illustrations. It was this summer that Ted hires an executive assistant to assist him with his writing, Eddie O'Hare. He also is the designated driver for Cole. This was the summer that Ruth's father was beginning what would be the favorite of Ruth, A Sound Like Someone Trying Not to Make a Sound, because she was its inspiration.

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"That Ruth Cole would grow up to be that rare combination of a well-respected literary novelist and an internationally best-selling author is not as remarkable as the fact that she managed to grow up at all."

"In her life as a novelist, Ruth would never be converted to the computer; she would either write in longhand or with a typewriter that made the most old-fashioned noise of all the typewriters she could find."

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The second part of the book takes place in the fall of 1990 when Ruth Cole is a successful literary novelist but her personal life is lacking. Her best friend, Hannah Grant, was a journalist who embraced life in every way, often to Ruth's chagrin. On a book tour, Ruth once again meets up with Eddie O'Hare, now a writer as well.

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"Hannah was a journalist. She presumed that all novels were substantially autobiographical. . . . In Ruth's novels, there was usually a woman character who was an adventurer--the Hannah character, Hannah called her. And there was always another woman character who held herself back; the less-bold character, Ruth called her--the Ruth character, Hannah said."

"On the subject of childhood, Ruth preferred what Graham Greene had written in 'The Power and the Glory:' 'There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.' Oh, yes--Ruth agreed."

"Since Ruth's earliest memories--not only since she'd begun to read, but from the first time her father had told her a story--books, and the characters in them, had entered her life and remained fixed there."

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It is at this time that Ruth Cole marries her editor/ publisher Allan Albright over the long Thanksgiving weekend, spent at Ruth's home in Vermont. The bride was given away by Eddie O'Hare and Hannah, the maid of honor. With his father's help, Eddie was able to identify the George Eliot passage about marriage that Ruth wanted read at her wedding.

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"At Ruth's wedding, Hannah read from George Eliot with a lack of conviction, but the words themselves were alive for Ruth.
'What greater thing is there for two human souls, than to feel that they were joined for life--to strengthen each other in all labor, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the last parting?'"

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And the final section is in the fall of 1995 where we meet Ruth again, a widow for one year with a young son, Graham. It is during this time that Ruth falls madly in love. It is a wonderful and bittersweet time as the threads of Ruth Cole's life all come together as only John Irving can do, what a magnificent storyteller. I find myself so wrapped up in his stories that I find myself a little lost when I have reached the last page.

I read this a while ago, and then the novel was donated to my Little Free Library Shed, so I re-visited it again. I am now bringing my review to Goodreads.

This is a New York times Notable Book. The author is also well known for The World According to Garp.

He is a quirky writer.

He has a way of creating unusual characters, and in this book he has done it again here.

The book is divided into 3 sections. Section 1: Ruth Cole is 4 years old. Section 2: She is an unmarried and successful novelist in her 30's. Section 3: she is a widow of 41.

We may not get really much about Ruth, in the first section. We are finding out more about people, dead and alive who shaped her life. As we move on through the book, we continue to meet others, as well as watch Ruth grow and evolve.

The author's characters are rich with details. There was much for me to gain from each character. I needed to understand them. But there was also much to gain from the background stories.

This book is a lengthy journey, and at times I felt like I wanted to skim read, but always found a way to stop, and go back because it was so rich in prose.

Besides, I believe, Irving realizes that interesting characters are multi-dimensional, and in creating them this way, he always finds a way to give readers a "happy ending."

And that is what I needed.

I picked this up because I've enjoyed several of Irving's other novels; having read it, I'm looking forward to my next one. This is a long novel and not especially fast-paced, but I was engaged from the start and one of my favourite moments occurs right at the end - I was never disinterested.

Irving is very much a story-teller. He carefully builds the structure of his tales and it shows - but his characters are as strong as his stories, and neither suffers from the attention paid to the other. He combines plot and character in a way that I think few authors do. His characters come to life; they are never boring - even minor characters are given detail and context that makes them memorable. Many of his characters could be ridiculous, but they aren't - instead they engage the reader's sympathy. I can see parts of people I know in many of his characters, and parts of many of his characters in people I know.

I will continue to work my way through the Irving backlist!

‘Viúva por Um Ano’ foi a minha estreia nos livros de John Irving e não podia ter começado melhor. Que galeria soberba de personagens, daquelas que não se esquecem. Destaco a forma magistral como o trágico e o cómico se cruzam num enredo que nos enche a cabeça de imagens pungentes, com o absurdo e o ridículo sempre à espreita (e com tantas subtilezas a pairar nas camadas abaixo da superfície).
Não vi A Porta no Chão (filme inspirado neste livro), mas parece que não perdi grande coisa.
Fiquei foi em pulgas para ler O Estranho Mundo de Garp, mas terá de ser em inglês, porque infelizmente as edições portuguesas das suas obras encontram-se quase todas esgotadas. O que é uma pena, porque John Irving merecia ter muito mais leitores por cá. Comigo já ganhou uma.

What started as a promising, entertaining read became an overly ambitious, bloated effort. It veered off into too many stories and by the end I just. didn't. care. Finished this book on the subway and after I read the last line (a lame attempt at bringing things full circle in a deep 'ooohhhh' way that failed miserably) I rolled my eyes and tossed the book onto the empty seat next to me. I hated nearly every character in that book.


Sigh.

Galbūt pirmai pažinčiai su Johno Irvingo kūryba pasirinkau NE TĄ romaną. Mano subjektyvia nuomone, pernelyg daug dėmesio ir puslapių skirta pimpalams, įspūdingiems Rutos papams, masturbacijai ir seksui. Kantriai skaičiau kūrinį iki pabaigos, tikėdamasi raiškos lūžio. Deja, daugiau 3/5 vertinti negaliu (o tikėjausi).

Exceptional novel. Have the tissues ready though.

Knyga puiki, erotiška, įtraukianti, parašyta labai lengva ranka - ir mažiausiai tragiška iš visų jo knygų, kupina meilės ir jos paieškų. Skaičiau dukart, bus ir trečias.

John Irving is een oerdegelijke schrijver. Hij schetst zijn personages op een scherpe, geloofwaardige manier, heeft een stijl die vanzelf leest, en brengt elementen in zijn verhalen die net bizar en tegelijkertijd net normaal genoeg zijn om gefascineerd te blijven lezen zonder het allemaal te vergezocht te vinden. Dat vind ik echter lang niet genoeg om zo intens van een boek te kunnen genieten als ik van dit boek heb genoten. Integendeel zelfs: het is allemaal zo mathematisch correct en volgens de regels van de kunst opgebouwd dat ik het bij momenten eerder bewonderde als een Werkstuk, en niet zozeer als een echt, levend verhaal. Vooral de manier waarop hij gebeurtenissen inplant, waarop alles tot in de puntjes klopt, draagt bij tot een rationele, wiskundige sfeer. Dit is niet bepaald mijn ding, en ergert me soms bij hem. Die ergernis voelde ik ook bij dit boek regelmatig.
Tot ik ergens op 3/4 zat. Want dan deed Irving "Dat Ding". Het gebeurt niet bij elke Irving. In 'The fourth hand' gebeurde het niet voor me, en in 'Bidden wij voor Owen Meany' evenmin. In 'The 158-pound marriage' daarentegen gebeurde het in extreme mate (Dat vind ik dan ook zijn allerbeste boek). En nu: BAM, opnieuw. Wat er gebeurt, is erg onvatbaar en dus niet makkelijk uit te leggen. Het komt er op neer (zonder te willen dwepen) dat zijn werk soms ineens zo echt en levend wordt dat het eigenlijk geen boek meer is, maar een doorsnede van een stuk van het leven. Het is een beetje bevreemdend wanneer dat gebeurt: wanneer de woorden eigenlijk totaal samenvallen met hun echte betekenis, zodat je geen omschrijving van iets meer leest, maar dat ding zelf in je handen hebt. Dat is subliem. Geniaal. Hij is de enige schrijver bij wie ik zoiets in deze mate heb ervaren.
Dus: lees dit boek, als je veel tijd hebt. Maar lees vooral 'The 158-pound marriage'. Of je nu tijd hebt of niet :)
Amen

If they search in my library after I die, they'll find inside the covers of some of my books notes, lists of characters and favorite quotes. There will be underlined phrases throughout. Exclamations in the margins. Here's a quote from this John Irving novel that I believe describes much of what this story is trying to say.

Ted Cole is in the passenger seat while he gives his daughter, Ruth, a driving lesson.

n  "The test is, sometimes there's no place to pull over–sometimes you can't stop, and you have to find a way to keep going. You got it?"n

Ruth, her father Ted, her friend Eddie and her mother Marion are all novelists. They enjoy varying degrees of success in their professions. But the story isn't about their writing, although it comes into play. In fact, readers need to pay attention to how Irving uses actual excerpts from their books; research into their writing; and reactions from their readers to understand these complex people and how their lives intertwine with others.

Grief is a major theme in the story, but not only because people die. There is loss throughout this story just as we experience a variety of losses in life. A Widow For One Year also invites us to examine enduring love.

If I hadn't been familiar with John Irving's writing, I might have become discouraged. "Why is this chapter here?" "What does this scene have to do with anything?" "Why do I need to know this little bit of information?" "So what that Ruth plays a mean game of squash?" But nothing is wasted, in my opinion. I need to know about Ted's indiscretions, Marion's seeming heartlessness, Eduardo's loyalty, Hannah's cynicism, and Ruth's little scar on her finger.

The title is like the X that marks the treasure on the map and I kept looking for the elusive treasure when, in fact, the treasure was the whole map. This actually gets 4.5 stars for keeping me guessing and for the "bookended" treatment Irving gave it.

Zacznę od tego, że uwielbiam Johna Irvinga. Każda jego powieść była dla mnie porywająca, pochłaniająca uwagę i arcyciekawa. Celowo użyłam czasu przeszłego. Do tej pory była. Jednoroczna wdowa to najgorsza powieść Johna Irvinga jaką przeczytałam. To najgorsza powieść ostatnich czasów (jakichś kilku lat) jaką przeczytałam. Zmusiłam się do jej zakończenia tylko ze względu na sympatię do autora.
Rwana fabuła zlepiona z chaotycznych fragmentów. Ja się pytam, gdzie ta erotyka? Gdzie ten brawurowy komizm? Oddajcie je!!!

Mijn eerste kennismaking met John Irving. Tip van een collega. Die dan de dag nadien deze voor me meebracht. Ze had gezocht welke ze eigenlijk zelf bezat en deze had ze dubbel. Heel graag gelezen. Deed me denken aan Paul Auster... Er zit echt veel in. Spanning, rouwen, liefde, vriendschap... Toen ik ongeveer halfweg was in het wonderlijke verhaal van Ruth viel plots de biografie van urbanus in mijn bus. Dat ik toch ben blijven voortlezen in deze zegt voor mij alles over mijn leesplezier.