We read this book for Book Club. I think it's a well written account of the love between an ordinary man and woman. Their love is a deep and abiding one. The alternating narratives are an interesting way to tell the stories of Ruby and Jack. Their distinct voices are recognizable after the first couple of chapters. When Ruby and Jack reflect on life, love, and the hereafter, their simple language manifests a surprising depth of spirit.

It all started with Jack opening up on the death of Ruby and how things were different. Throughout the book, a switch between Ruby and Jacks point of view was greeted with an opening of internal feelings. Overall, I enjoyed this book but it was definitely a different style of reading that I was not used too. I also found some parts of the book to be sad at times, such as when Ruby would discuss bottled up feelings she had. In conclusion, I would recommend this book to someone if they would be willing to try a different reading style.

I found this book in an LFL and took it to the beach with me, set out my chair, applied sunscreen to all exposed skin and settled down for a relaxing day at the beach which was ruined with the first sentence of the book.

"She hasn't been dead four months and I've already eaten to the bottom of the deep freeze."

Sentences like that will kill you dead.

This book had me from the very first sentence. It tells the life stories of Ruby and Jack, spanning the decades from right before their marriage to Ruby's too-early death.

The chapters alternate from Jack to Ruby and jump around in time as well. This works well as a literary device because every time I finished a Ruby chapter, I would ask myself, "Is this the last time I'll hear from her?" It made me cherish the time I had with Ruby, savor her every word. I didn't do that with Jack's chapters, after all, he's still alive to write another one. Isn't that what we do with people in our real lives, too?

By the end, I was crying. Crying over the loss of Ruby, over Jack's attempts to live without her, over my own worries about what my life would look like at its end. A beautiful and clear snapshot of what it means to live a life that you don't want to leave, even if some would call that life dull or ordinary or full of unfulfilled potential.

Read my full review at pageinbooks.com

Blinking Jack Ernest Stokes is forty when he marries Ruby Pitt Woodrow. Jack is twice Ruby’s age, skinny, and homely, but despite his drawbacks, he loves Ruby unconditionally and promises to take care of her. After suffering a tormented marriage to a brutal drifter, Ruby longs for stability and security and accepts Jack’s proposal of marriage. Such is the story of two very different people who transcend both economic worth and social status in order to make a marriage work.

Gibbons gives us a simple story about a man and a woman whose devotion for one another is uncomplicated, unwavering, and unbounded. Jack and Ruby’s love is quiet and kind and both derive a satisfying and greatly needed comfort from their marriage. A Virtuous Woman is a pleasant read and flows along at a relaxed pace—alternating narration between Jack and Ruby. Sadly, this book barely breaks the surface and fails to give the reader an opportunity to emotionally bond with either the story or to its characters. Gibbons succeeds in providing a big-picture view of a bittersweet relationship between two broken people, but the story could have been far richer had Gibbons further fleshed out the complicated feelings and effects associated with infertility, terminal illness, and bereavement.

Jack and Ruby’s unlikely relationship reminds us that love need not be complicated or blind. Sometimes, just having someone there offering you acceptance, kindness, and peace is enough.

Gosh, for such a small book, it took me forever to read it. While I enjoyed Gibbon's writing style, she does a good job making her characters lifelike, it never took off for me. It was very slow paced. Nothing exciting happened that made me anxious to pick it back up after I put it down.
Lesser characters Tiny Fran and Roland were painted as stereo-typical small-minded and selfish archetypes, creating the brunt of the conflicts in the story. The main characters, Jack and Ruby initially came off as a cute, mismatched pair, (She the young beauty. He the skinny older man) and I enjoyed reading about them, but if the author was inferring that Ruby was a virtuous woman, I'm not sure I'd agree. Virtuous means righteous, good, pure, and upstanding. Halfway through the story, Ruby and Jack, along with their neighbor, Burr, seem to take too much enjoyment out of tormenting the antagonists. Jack and Ruby's ridicule and often harsh reactions to the antagonists' infractions made them nearly as unlikeable as the people they condemned.
It's not often that I come out of a book not sure of the point of the story.

I didn't love this book, but I came to respect the author's writing style.
The terse, colloquial narrative and conversation turned out to have it's own eloquence.
A story of complicated lives lived by seemingly uncomplicated people is told in an understated yet powerful way.

The setting is Carolina in what seems to be the 1940's. These people are poor and their language shows their poor education.

Blinking Jack Stokes met Ruby Pitt Woodrow when he was 40 and she was 20. When he meets her she was married but soon becomes a widow. Her first husband taught her to smoke and lung cancer is what kills her at 45.

Jack and Ruby do marry. The story itself alternates between the thoughts of Jack and the thoughts of Ruby. This is the story of a love that transcends death.

What was compelling but also sometimes annoying was the dialogue that Kaye Gibbons has woven into this book. Very folksy and at times just poor English. I was impressed that she could write a book with people talking in a way that the author probably did not. Annoying because after reading the book for a while, I would find myself thinking in this jargon.

"Well, I better get these here dishes done before my comp'ney comes"

4 stars

A love story with gutsy characters. The story explores the relationship between Ruby, a sheltered, trusting girl who had her eyes opened harshly when she marries a migrant worker. Happily, the story does not end there, although it does begin with Ruby's death and then backtracks through her life. The chapters alternate between Ruby, and her present husband, each narrating the past that brought them to this time. Migrant workers, tenant farmers and land owners in a bygone era all brought together in this poignant, earthy novel.

I didnt really care for this book. It wasn't bad, it just didnt captivate me, it was something to do, more than a book I couldn't put down... I actually read up to the last 10 pages and didnt bother to finish, I just wasnt that interested....

This was the type of book that is so down to earth that it proved to be a very enjoyable read. Although it was a story of deep love and loss between a woman and a man decades older, there was no smarmy element permeating the writing. I detest some of the plots that many "romance" writers come up with that extol undying nauseating "love". The author delves into the realities of the interpersonal relationships of simple people living real life.

The story of a marriage, taking place apparently in an alternate universe where people are one-note and simplistic. It had a few good moments, but I don't really know what Oprah was thinking.

Love. A very compassionate look at a Southern culture not too far removed from how I grew up. I had never heard of Gibbons but picked this up off the dollar cart at my favorite book store. This book is sharp and spare but also full of emotion. I cried at the end. Gibbons got tons of acclaim for this book and deserved every ounce of it. I almost don’t want to read anything else of hers because I love this book so much and don’t want anything to spoil that.