The Measure of a Lady

By: Deeanne Gist

Narrated by: Julia Gibson

Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Christy Award finalist Deeanne Gist's compelling best seller portrays Rachel Van Buren's efforts to escape the gold-rush quagmire of 1849 San Francisco - with her high moral principles intact. Rachel is shocked by this mud-infested boomtown, where the only females are of ill repute. When saloon owner Johnnie Parker, a widower and former missionary, allows her to stay in his unoccupied shanty, she agrees to cook and clean for him. But Rachel soon struggles with their growing attraction.

©2006 Deeanne Gist (P)2006 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"[An] amusing, often almost titillating tale brimming with period detail." (Booklist)

delightful

all the elements of a good story present in this delightfully complex and humorious tale of a sister trying to be a momma a remain a lady in san francisco in the 49 gold rush after the little family's father died on the ship before they got there i couldnt turn the player off it was very entertaining the reader did a good job sorting the chacters

Loved it

Good story, well written, excellent character development. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This author has become one of my favorites.

amazing

captures your attention!! I stayed interested the whole time! loved it recomend it for sure

Johnnie kept me listening

Would you listen to The Measure of a Lady again? Why?

Down the road i would but not any time soon. Rachel was extremely preachy during this book. Half the time i wanted to argue with her. Her reasons for doing things just didn't move me and pushed me away. But i did like johnnie. He was so down to earth and i liked seeing how he changed. He had such depth to him and his story about his ex-wife really touched my heart. He was a good man.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Measure of a Lady?

The men kept putting different outfits on johnnie's nude statue. That made me laugh. I loved that they covered it just in suspenders one day because they weren't concerned with what body parts to cover.

Have you listened to any of Julia Gibson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but i did enjoy listening to her. Even if i was working on something else, i wasn't able to tune her out. I couldn't help but listen. She did well with all the different voices, even the mens.

Any additional comments?

The story itself was very good. There was tension, learning, sacrific and selfishness. It would have been better if rachel would have started to learn throughout the book instead of just the end.

The Measure of a Lady

You can not go wrong getting a book by Diane Geist. I love this book and have listened to it a least 2 times.

A delightful historic romatic novel

An excellent listen, very entertaining and refreshingly clean! One of my favorites! I could listen again. Jennifer

Good Listen, really enjoyed this one!

If you could sum up The Measure of a Lady in three words, what would they be?

Interesting, entertaining, & enjoyable

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Measure of a Lady?

too many to pick just one!

What about Julia Gibson’s performance did you like?

Yes, she was very good brings out the characters very well

Who was the most memorable character of The Measure of a Lady and why?

I liked the little boy, he doesn't come in until toward the end, can't remember exactly where but he was fun! Now in trying I cannot remember his name but he was a gem, when you first hear from him you will know who I"m speaking of :)

Any additional comments?

So happy I've discovered this author! I've not listened to anything yet that wasn't enjoyable, entertaining and never lost interest in the story line. I'm really enjoying her writings!

It’s good but…

I kept going back and forth while listening debating if I liked the book or couldn’t stand it. I love reading historical fiction and I don’t mind some religious things here and there. I’ve read more religion focused stories than this one but this one was harder to get through at times than those other stories. Mainly because the main character is very difficult to like, she’s too sanctimonious and stuck up. I know that’s the point but I kept waiting for her to learn a life lesson about how she’s too stuck up in her own holier than though ideals, I’m now towards the end and she still hasn’t figured that out yet. I feel like the author could have still gotten her religious messages across but with a more compelling story if she had focused more energy on the main character’s arc than her being upset that the guy she loved owned a gambling den. Not to mention she strings along another man who loves her throughout the book which doesn’t help with the readers dislike of her. With the way the ending is shaping up I’m expecting to be disappointed with the story.

Disappointed

I thought both leading characters to be significantly lacking depth and maturity that didn’t line up with what they said. I understand that the point was for them to grow, but when the growth occurred it felt too simplistic in their conclusions for such a dramatic shift without adequate reasoning or explanation as to why they didn’t see things before. There were holes in their characters that never got resolved or settled in a satisfactory way. This a distaste for the characters, plot line and overall story in my mouth. Disappointing after having enjoyed some of her other writings.

Painful

Y'all, I consider myself to be a pretty religious person, but this was painful. The level of "holier than thou" attitude of the main character was... I'm not even sure if a word... Next level. Of course grace won in the end, but the journey to grace was painful to listen to.