This book has been collecting dust on my shelf for many years so it was a long overdue read. I assumed it would be enjoyable because it was a pick for Oprah Winfrey’s book club. Wrong assumption. I was disappointed and bored after the first few chapters, forcing myself to finish it. The reasons why? (A)few characters—most were not interesting (b)no plot (c)the writing style (d)mostly negative experiences described (e)left me with nothing—no food for thought. Thankfully, this was a quick read.

"A Virtuous Woman" is a story told from the viewpoint of a woman who has recently died, interspersed with a narrative from her husband's point of view. Jack and Ruby are poor tenant farmers who met in mid-life and came to depend on each other. The book is equal parts Ruby's musings, Jack's musings, and a gentle narrative that explains their personal history.

Gibbons novel reads more like a gentle poem than a story of concrete events. There are certainly things that "happen" in Jack and Ruby's story. But the events and setting are present mostly as a framework to hang images and emotions on. The result is a beautifully written vision of two people who struggle, dream, and come to accept what they are given.

I truly enjoyed this book. It was kind of an odd read, written in the colloquial tongue of the poor, uneducated, hard-working Southeastern people. Guessing the setting may be Georgia or one of the Carolinas, and also guessing the timeframe is maybe the 1940’s through the 70’s. They did mention things like cars and tv, but at the same time the grocery store didn’t have fresh produce. The area was so rural that the timeframe may have been more recent, but they were still outdated and outmoded because of their distance from towns. I found the story itself to be very heart-warming. I liked that the storytelling jumped back and forth between the main female character, Ruby, and the main male character, Jack. I liked that most of the stories were told in hindsight or remembrance, looking back. You could tell that despite hard life experiences for each (she became a widow at 20, and he saw his father die by an overturned tractor) and despite big differences between them (age, upbringing, hometown, etc), there was a genuine love and fondness between Ruby and Jack. This book has me pondering parts of it days after reading it. For instance, why was Tiny Fran so unhappy and so mean all her life? Was she born that way? Did her parents’ spoiling and tolerating her misbehavior exacerbate a problem that was already there but not addressed? This book also reiterated the importance of spotting a good life partner carefully. Reminds me of the saying, “Before marriage, keep your eyes wide open. After marriage, keep them half shut.” Overall I felt like there were several universal truths expressed in story form here to which we could all relate.

First off, Gibbons has this knack for capturing the Southern vibe. It's like she's bottling up the humidity, the drawls, and the cicada symphony. The setting is so vivid; you can practically feel the Georgia heat. The characters, particularly Ruby Pitt Woodrow, are painted with this authentic brush, making them feel like folks you might've bumped into at the local diner.

Now, the narrative style is where it gets interesting. Gibbons uses alternating perspectives, giving you a front-row seat to the minds of both Ruby and Jack Stokes. It's like eavesdropping on their inner thoughts, and it adds a layer of complexity to the storytelling. Whether good or bad, just know the narrative takes its time, meandering through the characters' lives without rushing to the destination.

What an exquisitely crafted little book! Written in alternating voices of the two main characters, Jack Stokes and his wife Ruby, it felt like I was reading memoir. The voices seemed authentic to me, there was never a doubt as to who was narrating. In relating her past violent experiences with her first husband, Ruby’s character was allowed to be gentle and not overly explicit. I especially like the way that Jack became stronger, more confident yet more assertive as a man, merely as the result of being loved by this very lovely and virtuous woman. I found it most ironic that the title of the book and the opening passage were from the Bible about which both characters were so embittered and dismissive. I did enjoy the chapter where Ruby describes the visit of Cecil Spangler, their evangelical neighbor, who, having heard of Ruby’s cancer, comes over in a last ditch effort to convert her. Jack was definitely at his most articulate that day!
Also the chapter taking place after Ruby’s death, when Jack hired a neighbor’s renter to keep house for him, was very well written and funny; I could envision it all as described.
All in all, a great little read, but possibly offensive to the more religious among us but I enjoyed it.

I started out rating this book as 2 stars, but after considering my motivation for the low rating I changed it to 3 stars; and after writing this review I increased to 4.
Indecisiveness taking over? Not really.

The review on the back cover, which states "This book nearly vibrated out of my hands, at times!" over promised and under delivered.
I was awaiting anything close to a "vibration", or at least something more exciting than a mule getting hung or what Ruby's burial outfit was, or that Jack confused his late wife's spirit visiting him with sheets merely being tucked in too tight. Or even with a grieving widower having a drunken emotional breakdown and being embarrassed by the raw show of emotion that was not typical of his character.
As the unread part of the book waned I figured some sort of fireworks would be revealed with the next page turn.
As I read the last lines I felt sort of cheated and especially disappointed!
It took me a little while to fully realize what Ms. Gibbons was really writing about.

I think A Virtuous Woman is a somewhat introspective look at a woman's life, one who made poor decisions at a very young age. Then her pride, or inability to change, kept her from fixing those mistakes so she could have had a much easier and possibly more rewarding life - materially, educationally and socially. Instead she settled for where and what she was - a sharecropper's wife.
They both had a lot of pride - Ruby and Jack had that in common, didn't they?
The couple was notified of her inheritance: decent enough it seems, and instead of beginning a new life where Jack could farm his own land and Ruby could be the lady of her home place, taking a step up when it was offered them - they rejected it. Even though it was clearly Ruby's birthright and the normal manner in which many people come to own land - Jack said he liked "...the place he knew instead of the place you didn't know." But wasn't that the one thing he had longed for? To make a better life for him and his wife and any children they may have had?
Interesting that Ms. Gibbons used the term PLACE in Jack's words rather than farm or land, etc. Perhaps Jack was speaking of more than a geographical location but also a station in life?
With her inheritance Ruby could have split from Jack, then gone back and rekindled some friendships and had somewhat of her old life back, possibly with a housekeeper/cook to look after her. Maybe Jack would have eventually followed her. It doesn't seem as though Ruby put up much resistance to not accepting her inheritance. Was she embarrassed because she had run off with a reprehensible man and never saw fit to return when she was free of him? What else was she never ever to free herself from, besides cigarettes? Could it have been because she, too, preferred the 'place' she knew (her station in life) over the 'place' she didn't really know anymore? Did she think changing would be too difficult?
This story requires some afterthought, some work on the part of the reader after closing the cover. I was unable to really get a grasp of it until I began to write this review, a few hours after I'd finished reading it.
I think the author's aim was to share with us people who find each other, and share the same tacit philosophies about socio-economic status, their willingness, or not, to embrace change, doubtful of whether they are ever conscious of those facts.
Along the way the fondness and appreciation for each develops and those are the ties that bind.
The craft by which Ms. Gibbons makes these points through the characters in a "show, rather than tell" method has definitely earned A Virtuous Woman 4 stars from this reader.

Short and sweet.
This story is stark and simple, but touching and moving as well. I was shocked to find myself in tears at the end! I never expected to be so connected and brokenhearted over a story that took me less than 5 hours to finish.

This is a romance without all the mush. It's a bare bones telling of the relationship between Ruby, a young widow and Jack, an old tenant farmer. Don't expect a bodice-ripping romp in the hay. Instead it's the story of how love finds a way.

Very early in the story, you will realize that Ruby has been diagnosed with what is assumed to be lung cancer. This leads to her ultimate demise. What follows is the gut-wrenching grief that Jack must navigate as he tries to recover from the loss of his wife. The alternating point-of-view chapters show how each of them prepare themselves and each other for the eventuality of this death.

Meh. Started strong and drew me in, but then slowly fell apart.

My Original Notes (1997):

Another winner by Gibbons. Interesting writing device - alternates between voices of two characters every chapter. Timeline also goes backwards and then concludes full circle from the beginning. It took me a little longer to get hooked on this one, but once I did, that was it!

My Current Thoughts:

How funny that I mentioned the alternating points-of-view in my original notes. I guess I never encountered this device prior to reading this book. Now it's quite commonplace.

I don't recall the plot of this novel and reading the publisher's blurb as I type this review, I'm know I'm not at all interested in a re-read.

Interesting that the voice and point of view changes each chapter between husband and wife.

I read this book in 1997 and wrote a letter to the Oprah Book Club hoping to be invited to be on the show to have dinner with the author. I'm serious. I thought I could get chosen.

I was at my monthly pedicure appointment with my feet in water when my cell phone rang. It was my son who said I should probably come home because the Oprah Show had just called and was going to call back. I jumped out of the water and went running home in time to get the second call.

The producer asked me questions about the book, about myself, and about my reading tastes. She said they really liked my letter and that I was sure to be on the show UNLESS Oprah decided to only invite people who had been adopted as was the main character in the book. Alas, sigh....they called back a few days later to say that Oprah had indeed chosen to go with adoptees as guests. And that was my brush with fame.

Kaye Gibbons is an author I come back to over and over, like a favorite sweater, whenever I'm tired of my stack of unfinished books and don't feel like starting a new one. A Virtuous Woman is an unlikely love story of two people looking for safety and security in a hard world. Told in alternating points of view by Jack and Ruby, this story is sad, but true and happy at the same time. Beautifully written story.