A review by frogqueen
Widow For One Year by John Irving

emotional funny mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

• the lives of ruth cole, her parents, and eddie o'hare, her father's-assistant-turned-mother's-lover
• after reading the cider house rules i was afraid irving had lost his charm for me, but this one brought it right back - love the quirky characters and hijinks, especially during the portion where marion leaves ted
• love the stories within the story
• also loved (what i can only assume is) john irving poking fun at himself/general discussion around autobiographical fiction/how much is too much/can it be considered creative
• still a lot about ruth's later life fell flat for me, particularly her relationships. even though we've spent the whole book following her, i felt we didn't get to know her super well. there was always a bit of spearation.