A Widow for One Year

A Novel

By: John Irving

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 24 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

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 in the summer of 1958 on Long Island, Ruth is 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 41-year-old widow and mother — and 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.

©1998 Garp Enterprises, Ltd. (P)1998 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“By turns antic and moving, lusty and tragic, A Widow for One Year is bursting with memorable moments.” (San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle)

"Wisely and carefully crafted...Irving is among the few novelists who can write a novel about grief and fill it with ribald humor soaked in irony." (USA Today)

“Deeply affecting . . . The pleasures of this rich and beautiful book are manifold. To be human is to savor them.” (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

Held my interest throughout

I didn't enjoy it as much as 'Owen Meany' but it is right up there. John Irving does not disappoint!

John Irving January Continues

For the last five years I have begun the new year with a John Irving novel. This title has always been less appealing to me when I begin researching which Irving novel to take up next, but I was wonderfully happy to find myself a fool for overlooking the novel for so long.

More than a door in the floor

So many characters! Eddie, Marion, Ted, Thomas, Timothy, Ruth, Hannah, Harry, Mrs. Von, Alan, Graham; I would write Mr. Irving to tell him how I loved this book; how it made me feel, but when you read the book, you would know why I won't.

Give this book a try. I disagree with those that cannot find the beauty in it. I never have made comments on books I've read before because I've never felt I could write in a way that would have accurately conveyed how they make me feel.

You will be able to relate to the story and the characters. You will envy the author and his imagination. You will know and understand the characters. You will enjoy this book; immensely!

Very enjoyable.

When I first started listening, I was put off by the narrator. With time, I adjusted to his delivery, and I very much enjoyed this book. With a different narrator and some paring down of the "books within the book", I would have given this 5 stars. Even still, I was sorry to have it end.

Outstanding

Loved the characters, interwoven stories, and brilliant narration by George Guidall. So sad to reach the end!

Irving's stories are fascinating and strange

A 41 year old Marian who grieves the death of her 2 sons, seduces a 16 year old boy to subdue her grief. And off we go through the lives of Marian's daughter Ruth, who is 4, and her philandering husband Ted who writes children's books and seduces the mothers of his child readers. Occasionally it seemed too long, and then I couldn't stop.

boring

I struggled to finish the book. I felt the story was disconnected and mostly boring.

Very entertaining

What do you call a page turner if it's an audiobook? This book kept me from doing things I should have been doing.

The First Third is Great!

Would you try another book from John Irving and/or George Guidall?

Yes

Would you ever listen to anything by John Irving again?

Yes

Which scene was your favorite?

I won't give it away, but there are a couple powerful scenes where writer characters use the full force of their narrative abilities to reveal some disturbing details.

Was A Widow for One Year worth the listening time?

On the whole. First third was great, typical Irving. The last two thirds were so-so.

Great story and Excellent Narrator

I had seen the film A Door In The Floor which was based on this book and The Cider House Rules, and I was intrigued about John Irving's work. The book delves much further into the character of Ruth as both a child and an adult. Although I was disappointed with the ending because it felt like it ended too tidy, over all I thought it was amazing, and I am working my way through other Irving novels. His sense of irony and the way he gives the reader tidbits of information of what happens in the characters future, which they themselves don't know, leaves you wanting more all the time. The Narrator was amazing in this, and I recommend it just based on that.