|
Ellen Isaacs | |
|
Like all of Irving's books, A Widow for One Year is hard to encapsulate in a short summary. It centers around Ruth Cole, a famous author and daughter of a famous (and philandering) children's author. Ruth's mother disappeared when she was 4 years old, but not before having an affair (sanctioned by her father) with a 16-year-old boy, who eventually becomes Ruth's friend as an adult and who never stops loving Ruth's mother. The story is about Ruth's career, relationships with men, and eventual coming to terms with being abandoned. But of course, that's an oversimplification, and ignores the Amsterdam prostitute who has a clever way of letting customers secretly watch her have sex with other customers, the ripped up pieces of pornographic drawings that blow all over Long Island's east end, the death of Ruth's two brothers before she was born, not to mention Ruth's husband, son, and promiscuous best friend. I read this book on a trip across the US that included a 5-hour delay on the tarmac of Dallas airport where I had to change planes. I hardly noticed the wait, and when I finally got to my hotel room at 2:30am, I wanted to read some more before going to sleep. I loved this book. The characters are multi-dimensional and fully believable. I found myself relating to nearly all of them, even the ones I didn't like very much. Irving has his usual fun telling stories within stories, and creating ridiculous and zany situations that make perfect sense in the context of the story. There are so many details that would stand out as "significant" in other stories, but in this book are just part of Irving's attempt to help you really see the action and understand the characters. I'll have to go back and re-read The Cider House Rules, but right now, this is my favorite of his books.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
