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Summary: A thought provoking story of love and life-long commitment.
Review: It was interesting to "see" the contrasting perspectives of the main characters. The story itself was one of devotion and long-term commitment we rarely see today.
Rating: 
Summary: A quick good read
Review: This book was a quick good read. I found the ending to be predictable. Nonetheless, I did enjoy it.
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Summary: A very sweet love story
Review: Only a person who is in love can understand the relationship between Jack and Ruby. Jack's pages expressing his love for Ruby and the pain in losing her was the most romantic thing I have read in some time. I just hope that if someone walked up to my husband and asked who he was he would say "I'm the man that was married to Lisa"
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Summary: Sometimes you need a good, short term read.
Review: Kaye Gibbons has managed to give us a fullfilling story without taking a great deal of our time and effort. A virtuous woman is a reminder that life can be beautiful in its simplicity. The book reminded me of meeting new people- how I like to hear about their lives and the events that shaped them. Nothing earthshattering here, but still a satisifying story that entertained me on a rainy weekend and reminded me of how precious the "routine" of everyday life really is.
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Summary: Human nature is the same regardless of money, race or location
Review: In the end you just have to feel empathy for Jack and come to understand that for all his simple ways he was in fact a complex man capable of deep emotion. That point is brought out time and time again for all the main characters who on the surface seem to be card board stereotypes and then we are fooled. Even Tiny Fran you understand that underneath her meaness was her sole desire to be loved by anyone. This is a quick and absorbing read but don't be surprised if you turn the last page wishing for more.
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Summary: Calm down, everyone!
Review: In my opinion, this book was certainly not a must-read or a "rare gem" or a highly-recommendable book, as the earlier people who reviewed this book wrote. Neither is it a book that is so horrible it can't be finished, or one that damns Oprah's selections forever (though I must say I don't let daytime talk show hosts dictate my book selections), as more recent reviewers leaned. First of all, I'm shocked by all of the reviewers who seem to be equating a depressing book with one that's not worth reading. Some of the best books ever are quite sad. To all those people, I say: go buy a magazine, a trashy romance novel or a comic book. Furthermore, although I did almost cry a couple of times, I didn't find this book depressing at all. It was a sad story--of Ruby's abuse and then of her dying--but the love between Ruby and Jack made this more of a love story than anything else. I liked the switching back and forth of narrators, and I especially liked that Ruby and Jack were speaking from different time periods, too. I liked reading about Jack's life following Ruby's death in one section, and then reading about Ruby preparing for her death in the next. I found her preparation of months' worth of food for Jack touching, and it was very clear throughout how much the couple loved each other. Whether this was based on true love or on need, as some reviewers suggest, is debatable, but does not speak to the strength of the connection between them, which I felt was very powerful. I think a lot of Southern literature is tough for readers from other parts of the country/world, and this novel is no different. However, isn't that why people read? To learn about experiences not just of people and surroundings very similar to their own, but of different types of people from different parts of the world, with different lifestyles, perspectives, vocabularies, accents, values, interests and lives? I'm planning on reading "Ellen Foster," as that seems much better received.........
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Summary: The Virtuous Woman
Review: "The Virtuous Woman" written by Kaye Gibbons, is a novel about an unlikely couple. Ruby Pitt Woodrow, the daughter of prosperous farmers and Jack Stokes, an unattractive and unsuccessful tenant farmer. They share the details of their life in alternating chapters. At first the unusual narration appears confusing, but it clarifies what Jack or Ruby is trying to express. In the first chapter Jack is describing his life without Ruby. Knowing that she dies of lung cancer from the beginning of the story weakens the plot. However, it allows you to focus more on the characters and their interaction with each other. The author's reason for revealing Ruby's death becomes more obvious when Ruby starts narrating the second chapter. She begins preparing frozen food for Jack so he can have nourighing meals after she is gone. Her love and concern for his well-being was showing through her selfless acts, therefore strengthening the weak story line. Expecting a religious based book from the title of the novel, the reviewer was hindered by that assumption. It could have been enjoyed more if it was read with an open mind. In the book of Proverbs, chapter thirty-one, verse ten reads, "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." To Jack, Ruby is worth far more than any precious stone. Even though this was not the type of religious story the reader was looking for, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The fact that two people can see past their differences to find a love that is pure, unselfish, and stong is powerful. As a romance nvel it stands out above the rest.
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Summary: Could Have Been Better-I Give it a "C-"
Review: This book just seemed incomplete and not put together too well.
It starts out with Ruby, Jack's late wife dying of lung cancer, and how he is grieving for her. Then it goes into the real story before this happened, Ruby having overprotective parents, and yet she goes off and marries an abusive husband. Jack is lonely and loves Ruby the first time he sets eyes on her. So when Ruby's unfaithful/abusive husband John dies from an accident, the two get together and marry. They share a few happy years together until Ruby comes down with lung cancer, and dies. Jack is so grief-stricken, he cannot move on with his life, and the book continues that way at the end more or less.
I wouldn't waste my time reading this book when there is much better reading material.
Rating: 
Summary: Do you have the time?
Review: I read a great deal and most all gifts to me are books. Being raised in the south, I love southern literature. This book failed to evoke any response in me except that I felt that I was wasting my time in finishing it. It was sad and hopeless, as am sure it was meant to be, but the characters were under developed and failed to connect with me on any level.
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