A Widow For One Year and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more

Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
Buy Used
Used - Very Good See details
Price: £1.59
Fulfilled by Amazon

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 
See all 2 customer images
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Start reading A Widow For One Year on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

A Widow For One Year [Paperback]

John Irving (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £6.74 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.25 (25%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 1 left in stock (more on the way).
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.
Want delivery by Tuesday, 28 May? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £6.17   -- --
Hardcover £15.85   -- --
Paperback £6.74   -- --
Audio, CD, Audiobook £32.09   -- --
Unknown Binding --   -- --
Books Trade-In
Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more.

Book Description

Publication Date: 1 Jun 1999

'One night when she was four and sleeping in the bottom bunk of her bunk bed, Ruth Cole awoke to the sound of lovemaking - it was coming from her parents' bedroom.'

This is the story of Ruth Cole. It is told in three parts: on Long Island, in the summer of 1958, when she is only four; in 1990, when she is an unmarried woman whose personal life is not nearly as successful as her literary career; and in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth Cole is a forty-one-year-old widow and mother. She's also about to fall in love for the first time...

Frequently Bought Together

A Widow For One Year + The World According To Garp (Black Swan) + The Hotel New Hampshire (Black Swan)
Price For All Three: £20.22

Buy the selected items together

Product details

  • Paperback: 656 pages
  • Publisher: Black Swan; New Ed edition (1 Jun 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 055299796X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0552997966
  • Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 3.2 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 59,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's John Irving Page
John Irving
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.

Product Description

Review

"Wickedly knowing, mischievously post-modern and magical realist along the lines of Gunter Grass, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Robertson Davies" (Time Out )

"Gripping, full of horror and humour" (Literary Review )

"A compelling chronicle of love and loss... His most intricate and fully imagined novel" (San Francisco Chronicle )

"Irving's storytelling has never been better" (New York Times )

"His best since Garp" (Time )

Book Description

A masterpiece from one of the great contemporary American writers.
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Classic John Irving! 30 Sep 2002
By O. Ahmed
Format:Paperback
Having not read a John Irving novel since The Cider House Rules, I wasn't sure I could reacquire the taste for his methods of storytelling. By the very first page of A Widow For One Year, however, I was hooked. This book has the usual Irving mixture of tragedy, comedy, romance, and, of course, sex. And yes...I am man enough to admit that by the end of the book I was moved to tears!
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Promises much, delivers little 30 Oct 2002
By Mr. M. J. Hulme VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I am at a loss as to why the second part of this book is such a disappointment, for this was exact point at which this book lost me. Told in three parts, the first part is fantastically well written - the characters are well-imagined and depicted such that you feel as if you actually know them. The sections on the upbringing of little Ruth Cole, her wayward father and the role of Eddie are simply superb - I'd love to gush on about why and how, but I don't want to give anything away. There have not been many books that I have sat and read and read and read until I've devoured some 200 pages in one sitting, but this first section is priceless. I had hoped that this would herald a return to form for John Irving after some fairly lean times.

Sadly, this is not the case. Once we are (arbitrarily) flung some forty years into the future, the remainder of the book is self-conscious navel-gazing, focusing on the trials and tribulations of being a successful niche market author. Oh John! Please! This isn't 'magic realism', it's a silly exercise in exorcising your demons, and this narcissism drags the book down with it. Part three is a little better, picking the pace up again, but the long and meandering second section took all the momentum and impetus out of the book and renders later events almost irrelevant. If you are looking for an introduction to John Irving, look elsewhere - ardent fans may lap it up, but it is certainly not his finest hour.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars This was an excellent 'get your teeth into book'. 6 Jan 2002
By E. Foley
Format:Paperback
I've read and enjoyed a few other John Irving books and this book did not disappoint. If you liked 'The World According To Garp' and 'Hotel New Hampshire' you'll love this book. Told in three distinct sections (much like acts of a play), it presents the life of Ruth Cole centrally, but also the many colourful characters who inhabit her world. Although readers will need to suspend their realism for some of the more unlikely coincidences, this in no way takes from the book. And the fact that so many characters in the book are themselves authors, one gets great insight into John Irving's own probably journey with this and his other books. I would highly recommend this novel, a must for John Irving fans and a good start for a first time reader.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
No
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!
I had never read a John Irving novel until the one who is always right, Mrs B, handed me a copy of The World According To Garp. Read more
Published 10 months ago by D Brown
2.0 out of 5 stars Tedious in the extreme
I thoroughly enjoyed "A Prayer For Owen Meany" so was happy to begin a new John Irving - but let me save you some hours of your life you won't get back - it's not worth it. Read more
Published 18 months ago by byron
4.0 out of 5 stars much to enjoy
In the first part of the book, at 16 year old student visits a children's writer and his wife for a summer job and becomes engaged in their lives; in the second part a successful... Read more
Published on 3 April 2011 by William Jordan
5.0 out of 5 stars A Widow for One Year by John Irving
John Irving does it again! He really has to be one of my favourite authors. A Widow for One year is again an excellent story of a dysfunctional family, but he takes each character... Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2010 by P. A. Cunningham
4.0 out of 5 stars John Iriving and his feminine side
t took a while to get through this one! But I didn't want to give up. It's like that with John Iriving, he is, unfortunately, long winded. Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2010 by Ger
4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Irving - unconventional but brilliant
When John Irving is on form, he writes as good a book as you can hope to read. Whilst nothing of his will, in my opinion, match the brilliance of his 'Prayer for Owen Meany', 'A... Read more
Published on 16 May 2010 by BookWorm
5.0 out of 5 stars "Eating with a novel is not eating alone, Eddie - I'm mildly ashamed...
A Widow For One Year by John Irving.

Simply dedicated `For Janet, a love story' this thumping great fat book covers the lives and loves of the Cole family, their friends... Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2010 by Mrs. Katharine Kirby
3.0 out of 5 stars Wow, what a strange book
Having read `Garp' I was pretty keen to give another Irving book a go. Well, I kind of wished I hadn't. Read more
Published on 28 Jan 2010 by aus_books
4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining and well written
This is certainly an interesting and entertaining enough plot to beguile one into rereading after the passage of time. Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2009 by inch worm
3.0 out of 5 stars Not his best by a long margin
Not his best by a long margin, but worth reading if you're a fan. A book in three parts that despite the consistency of characters feels like three odd books stuck together. Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2009 by E. Lander
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

There's a problem loading this menu at the moment.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.

    Your Shopping Basket is empty.

    Give it purpose -- fill it with books, DVDs, clothes, electronics and more.

    If you already have an account, sign in.

    There's a problem previewing your shopping basket at the moment.

    Check your Internet connection and go to your cart, or try again.

    View Shopping Basket (0 items)

      Customer Discussions

      This product's forum
      Discussion Replies Latest Post
      No discussions yet

      Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
      Start a new discussion
      Topic:
      First post:
      Prompts for sign-in
       


      Active discussions in related forums
      Search Customer Discussions
      Search all Amazon discussions
         
      Related forums

      Listmania!

      Create a Listmania! list

      Look for similar items by category

      Feedback


      Amazon.co.uk Privacy Statement Amazon.co.uk Delivery Information Amazon.co.uk Returns & Exchanges