A Widow for One Year — John Irving

At the age of 39, Marion Cole left her philandering husband, abandoned her four-year-old daughter Ruth, and had an affair with a 16-year-old boy. This is where A Widow For One Year begins. It continues with Ruth, now a 36-year-old acclaimed novelist, unmarried, angry and self-contradictory. Five years later Ruth is a widow and a mother, and her child is the same age that Ruth was when her mother left. This is John Irving's tale of self-discovery, betrayal, and first love.