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“Ruth Cole…emerges as
a complex, conflicted woman…She is Irving’s most emotionally detailed character
yet…An engaging and often affecting fable, a fairy tale that manages to be
old-fashioned and modern all at once.”
— New York Times
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“[Irving’s]
characters can beguile us onto thin ice and persuade us to dance there. His
instinctive mark is the moral choice stripped bare, and his aim is impressive.
What’s more, there’s hardly a writer alive who can match his control of the
omniscient point of view.”
— Washington Post Book World
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“Moving and memorable…This
novel marks a return to the deep but gentle examination of human nature that
made Garp so successful.”
— San Diego Union-Tribune
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“As compelling as Garp.
It might be even better. Which is to say it’s terrific…Filled with compassion
and complexity…A tribute to Irving’s powers as a writer…His most moving book…A Widow for One Year demonstrates,
without a doubt, that John Irving is one of America’s great storytellers.”
— San Jose Mercury News
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“An awfully fun—and funny—book…[A Widow for One Year] revolves around
the world according to Ruth Cole, the daughter of a lecherous Long Island
children’s book author and his beautiful, haunted wife. Irving’s strength has
always been his characters…And Ruth…is one of Irving’s most fully realized
creations to date.”
— Sunday Oregonian
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“A feast…One of this
storyteller’s richest works…Irving has stuck to his guns, outlived and out-written
the minimalists, and every few years gives us a rich, resonant tale.”
— Austin American-Statesman
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“Irving is a writer
whose keenest sensibilities have always fallen somewhere between Dickensian
verbosity and Mad magazine mischief; a writer whose work is informed by
characters and events that run the gamut from the tender to the tragic…He has
created in Ruth Cole a wisely enigmatic character, at once feisty and frail…A
sphinx full of riddles on the road to personal redemption. Redemption ultimately
seems at the heart of all Irving’s novels, people striving to rise above the
absurdities of their life, daring to see some greater purpose in the mortar of
their daily grind. A Widow for One Year
celebrates this fusion of comic forbearance and enduring hope beautifully.”
— Rocky Mountain News
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“Ruth Cole is one of
Irving’s most endearing curmudgeons: the perfect guide through the often rocky
and uncertain landscape of the human heart.”
— Denver Post
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“Comic and tragic,
brilliant, and moving…Crammed with all the wonderful characters, quirky
situations, and memorable coincidences that have made [Irving] so beloved by
readers…A Widow for One Year is
unquestionably a big novel…in its scope, in its breadth of subjects, and in its
myriad diverse characters. It’s a terrific read that will make you its willing
slave, so captivating is its allure.”
— Chattanooga Free Press
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“In the sprawling,
deeply felt A Widow for One Year, John Irving has delivered his best
novel since The World According to Garp…Like a warm bath, it’s a great
pleasure to immerse yourself in.”
— Entertainment Weekly
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“A Widow for One Year delivers everything John Irving fans have come
to expect from the beloved author of The
World According to Garp: a funny, sad, sprawling saga full of oddball yet
believable characters.”
— Glamour
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“Enchantingly
balances the haunting tug of grief with the lure of enduring love…Irving’s rich
narrative and his sense of play result in a delicious collusion between author
and reader.”
— Raleigh News and Observer
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“Full of humor,
heartbreak, and lust.”
— Newsday
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“Masterful…Powerful…Irving’s
best books are Dickensian in their rich characters, plotting, and language—and
of course, in moving the reader.”
— Orlando Sentinel
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“There’s only one
thing wrong with John Irving novels: They have to end. Readers won’t easily
part with the characters of his latest work, A Widow for One Year…[An] exhilarating talent.”
— Tennessean
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“When characters are
brilliant, funny, idiosyncratic, and memorable, you are square in the middle of
really good storytelling.”
— Tampa Tribune Times