Cloth Girl vs Defending Billy Ryan: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Lawyers, Legal stories, Fiction
Cloth Girl
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Matilda Lamptey, the Cloth Girl of the title, is fourteen years old when sophisticated black Gold Coast lawyer, Robert Bannerman, sets eyes on her and resolves to take her as his second wife. For Julie, his first wife,…
Defending Billy Ryan
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Twelve years ago Jerry Kennedy delivered his first report, Kennedy for the Defense, on being the classiest sleazy criminal lawyer in Boston, as Mack, his then-wife, called him. Seven years ago, Jerry called in again,…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Defending Billy Ryan is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 10 for Cloth Girl.
- Cloth Girl has the widest readership — 279 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Cloth Girl | Defending Billy Ryan | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.7 (279) | 3.8 (100) |
| Hardcover | 2.0 (1) | 4.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.5 (6) |
Reception
| Cloth Girl | Defending Billy Ryan | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 279 | 100 |
| Editions | 6 | 10 |
| Want to read | 390 | 75 |
| Reading it now | 12 | 9 |
| Written reviews | 33 | 9 |
| Pages | 576 | 250 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Cloth Girl or Defending Billy Ryan?
Defending Billy Ryan has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Defending Billy Ryan 3.8/5, Cloth Girl 3.7/5).
Which is shorter to read: Cloth Girl or Defending Billy Ryan?
Defending Billy Ryan is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Defending Billy Ryan (250 pages, ≈ 4 h 38 m); Cloth Girl (576 pages, ≈ 10 h 40 m).
Which is harder to read: Cloth Girl or Defending Billy Ryan?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Cloth Girl: Moderate; Defending Billy Ryan: Moderate.