A Virtuous Woman

Here'a wonderful, basic story of heartfelt love. There was something about Ruby from the first day Jack saw her at the picnic table where all the migrant workers met before work. Ruby Pitt was a woman that bore her share of crosses.This story follows Jack's love for his wife through their marriage, through Ruby's illness and beyond.It's a sweet story that will pull at your heart strings and I have to say, it had me crying at one point til I couldn't see through the tears.You will love Ruby and Jack. You'll want to take their hands and help them. And there are some characters that you just won't like at all! Some truely mean people.This is a quick read and a very enjoyable, hard to put down book. I strongly recommend reading this book. It's just plain old fashioned love and tenderness between two good human beings and the struggles they endure.

Within the short span of 165 pages, Gibbons is able to capture the psychological and emotional dynamics between Ruby and Jack. Listening to their alternating voices, I was able to delve deep into who these people are and how much they love each other. (I laughed, I cried, I read sections to my husband, etc.) And though some have disparaged it for being "depressing", I think what some are really disappointed with is the lack of a "happily-ever-after". Life is rarely a fairytale, with love riding in on a white horse, trumpets hailing, and rose petals falling. Instead, Gibbons shows us what "true" love in real life can be-something that endures and warms us even after the person has gone.

I don't care if Ruby and Jack were together for true love or for need, but this novel was a definite story about love of some sort. I was touched, moved to tears, and laughed off my seat. A VIRTUOUS WOMAN was beautiful, heart-wrenching, sweet and honest. Definitely one of Oprah's better choices, but read it for other reasons, too.

I couldn't put this book down.Love came to Ruby and Jack differently than it does to most of us in modern times. We are witness to the backgrounds of both Ruby and Jack as well as their perspective of their situations. I liked the way the author alternated the chapters between the wife's voice and the husbands.The story reminds us that make our own choices in life and often we let our circumstances push us into unwise ones. Many relationships are built out of need due to loneliness, one of the person's lack of money, or gratefulness; none of which has anything to do with romantic love. Often both partners are aware of each others reasons and often they don't know. Ruby and Jacks choice was to be alone or with a friend who cares and hope that love comes later.A woman who is dying knows the limitations of her husband. She knows he will be in pain after her passing. This is the first book that I have ever read that detailed the male's pain and struggle to get on with life after losing his wife. I kept wondering what my own husband would do. I know my husband would go for the jar of peanut butter every day rather than actually cook something. . .no dishes to do, something fast. I love him and would probably be concerned about how he will survive without me and do something similar to what Ruby did. . .prepare and freeze some meals for him.The story also demonstrates how families come together in ways other than biology. We all reach out to others whom we feel good with, know we can count on and willingly seek our companionship; they become family.