Rating: 
Summary: I could have passed
Review: I read this book after reading her other novel Ellen Foster. I liked Ellen Foster very much and I would recommend that novel, but this one I do not know. The language was difficult. Gibbon's technique of switching back and forth between Jack and Ruby was difficult to grasp. Many times, I had to re-read to understand what was going on. Basically...I did not get it. The story lack depth and completion of some loose ends. The most enjoyable parts were with Cecil and Miss Mavis. I laughed aloud during those two sections but other than that I could have passed. If I had read this one first, I do not think I would not have touched Ellen Foster, which was worth the read. I read this on the recommendation of Oprah. I know she is not the official word on what to read but I put a lot stock in what she says and this one did not cut it.
Rating: 
Summary: Akick in the seat of the pants, and then some.
Review: This books makes one stop and think, this could happen to me. In today's world of battered women, it is a scary thing to see that things have not changed all that much. Once you pick this book up it's a hard one to lay back down. It leaves you reeling and trying to find the answer to the question why didn't she leave the bum. Thank Goodness that where it really counted she found a man who could make her feel happy again. I would highly recommend this book for a day at the beach reading.
Rating: 
Summary: It is the Virtuous Reader who finishes this........
Review: This was another of the longest, short novels I have ever read. I wanted to give it up but thought maybe I was missing the point or a hidden message. I wasn't. It wasn't there. The characters were neither virtuous or interesting and the dialect made some of it difficult and annoying. In the end, I did not get a sense of love, but only of need. Who else would have them? What a waste!
Rating:
Summary: Ho-Hum
Review: I actually liked the idea of hearing the story from the view of both characters. I thought that was a creative idea - I just didn't like the story. It was sad - a technicolor picture of what settling looks and feels like. I am getting so tired of depressing books Oprah! Enough with the pain and suffering already! Come on! Recommend something uplifting!
Rating: 
Summary: "A Virtuous Woman" Hits Home Virtuously
Review: Kaye Gibbons, author of the amazing book Ellen Foster has done it again. Her novel, "A Virtuous Woman" is unlike any other typical book that is read in modern days. Her story features a woman, Ruby Pitt Woodrow Stokes, who after a failed marriage and a bad habit of smoking, marries a man named "Blinking Jack" Stokes who worked with her on a manor for the mother of a spoiled child. The story actually evolves after Ruby's death. It seems as if Gibbons likes using the literary device of flashbacks because the story's setting shifts from past to present as Jack begins the story after Ruby's death but shifts back in the next chapter as Ruby continues the story from the events occurring to the both of them before her death. Gibbons is a master at using setting shifts because she does it so well that the reader never gets confused or lost in what is developing in the novel. The opening passage of the novel is, "Who can find a virtuous woman?" Ah yes, who can find one indeed! The novel takes the reader from a past-present account from Ruby and Jack proving the statement that Ruby is a virtuous woman. How is she "A Virtuous Woman"? Well, she cooks, cleans, takes care of her husband, and manages to live before dying all at once. Ruby, being privileged coming from a wealthy background, takes advantage of that when she meets John Woodrow, a handsome, rugged man who abuses her. This exemplifies Ruby as a virtuous woman in the greatest way because throughout all the abuse, torture, deceit, and lies from her husband, she stood right by him up until the very day he died. That is the perfect example of a virtuous woman. Just by the few standards that Ruby keeps by being faithful, just, and honest to her man in everything she does makes her "a virtuous woman."
Rating:
Summary: Never did find the virtue.
Review: I found this novella extraordinarily long and tedious. Seriously, I have read War And Peace twice (the Garnett and the Maude translations) and it reads faster than this...this... The characters were two-dimensional; the language was glib and trite. It had no editing (there were SEVERAL grammatical errors!). The theme lacked importance; that is, I could never see past the tedium of their lives and their love for each other seemed to be a misplaced greed for need--"what will you do for me." If someone handed this book to me and told me to read it I would suspect them of some sort of devious intent and a basket full of hidden crimes. Pass.
Rating:
Summary: Depressing!!!!!
Review: I read this book because I liked "Ellen Foster". Boy, was I in for a shock when I read the first couple of pages. I was instantly depressed, sad, and ready to close the book for good. Even though I finished the book, I didn't like it. I really didn't sympathize or relate to any of the characters. The story was touching and had a good plot, but I felt it could have been written better.
Rating:
Summary: Thought it would never end !!!
Review: For being such a short book, I thought it was never going to end. I could only handle a page at a time before nodding off. This was not a love story, this was a couple not wanting to live life alone so "what the heck" lets get married and we won't have to be alone. I managed to finish it though, I like a challenge.
Rating:
Summary: A Laugh out Loud Book!
Review: Took a couple of chapters, a mere two dozen pages or so to get my bearings, but once I did, I flew through it. I laughed out loud and read aloud to my husband and sons the phrases and images that made me laugh till tears leaked out the corner of my eyes. I saw something of every widower I've ever known and hold vivid pictures in my mind of a place I've never really been to. The grammar is a little difficult, but at least it's consistently first person and uniform throughout. I loved it and will doubtless read it again, or at least those parts that touched my heart. I only wish there had been more of it.
Rating:
Summary: No thank you
Review: This book is Faulkneresque, but the story line is not interesting enough to carry it.
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