A Widow for One Year (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: John Irving
- First Published: 1998
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: The 1950’s to the 1990’s
- Setting: The northeastern United States and parts of Western Europe
- Principal Characters: Ruth Cole, Marion Cole, Ted Cole, Thomas and Timothy Cole, Eddie O’Hare, Hannah Grant, Allan Albright, Harry Hoekstra
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Love or romance
- Locales: Amsterdam, Netherlands
In The World According to Garp (1978), John Irving’s fourth novel and the one that would establish his reputation as a major novelist, the life and career of the title character, T. S. Garp, are nearly overshadowed by the life and career of Garp’s mother, Jenny Fields, an “accidental feminist” whose writings are at least as well known as those of her son. Similarly, in Irving’s ninth novel, A Widow for One Year, the life and career of the title character, Ruth Cole, often recede into the background, upstaged by the works and deeds of her parents and others. As in...
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