John Irving — A Widow for One Year

Black Swan 1999 Paperback, 682pp. 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 second time we meet Ruth is in the fall of 1990, when she 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. The book closes in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth Cole is a 41 year old widow and mother. She's about to fall in love for the first time. Foxed. (ISBN: 9780552997966). Fair.