A Widow for One Year (1998) is the ninth novel published by American author ''Creator/JohnIrving.'' The first half was adapted into the 2004 film ''Film/TheDoorInTheFloor''. The plot follows Ruth Cole, who is four years old in the first section of the book. Her mother, grieving over the loss of Ruth's older brothers, begins an affair with a teenager, while Ruth's father, Ted, carries on a number of affairs. The second half of the plot follows Ruth as an adult.
!!Some tropes found in the novel include:
* AdaptationDistillation: TheFilmOfTheBook, released as TheDoorInTheFloor, only featured the first half, and several things were even left out of that.
* AuthorAppeal : Exeter, sex, squash, and writing.
* BoardingSchool : Ruth attends Exeter Academy (like the author).
* TheRedStapler : Ted's book, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sound_Like_Someone_Trying_Not_to_Make_a_Sound A Sound Like Someone Trying Not to Make a Sound]].
* DisposableSexWorker : Subverted, in that Ruth befriends and researches prostitutes in Amsterdam's red light district. Played distressingly straight when [[spoiler: Ruth witnesses the murder of a prostitute.]]
* LikesOlderWomen : Eddie. And how! His attraction to women in their sixties (when he's forty-ish) is both charming and hilarious.
* MostWritersAreWriters: Both Ruth and her father are writers.
* TitleDrop : During the ShowWithinAShow (story within a story). The first line of Ruth's reading is so-and-so had been "a widow for one year."
* YourCheatingHeart : Many of the characters, but Ted Cole in particular.