Rating: 
Summary: An Unforgettable Book
Review: In Sue Miller's While I Was Gone, many of the elements of genre fiction are evident---murder, sex, and suspense---though these are merely servants to a rich literary quality of the book: ordinary human interaction and a detailed exploration of character. Joey Becker is a woman in her 50's with a quest to understand herself and a murder that happened thirty years ago. This murder has created a silent tension that has followed her through three successive decades. It is always hiding in the background of her mind. In the foreground she seems to live in fairly calm circumstances: her husband loves her, the kids are grown and out of the house, she has a successful veterinary practice and a cozy home in a small New England town. Yet this unresolved tension unnerves Joey and she will do almost anything (including adultery) to come to terms with it. Sue Miller is a talented writer who knows how to bring us (and keep us) readers in her fictional world. She rings true.
Rating: 
Summary: Emotionally realistic and satisfying reading
Review: "While I Was Gone" is told by a middle-aged woman named Jo Becker, a veterinarian, happily married wife, and mother of three daughters who lives outside of Boston. The wife of an old housemate (Eli) brings their dog to her office, and this triggers Jo's memories of her time after college when she was running from her first marriage. She had assumed a new identity and lived in a group house in Boston, where she became close with her housemates, one of whom she finds murdered in their living room when she gets home from cocktail waitressing one day. The book flashes back to tell the story of her time in the group house and then returns to her married life, where she meets Eli again and find herself attracted to him. In all the lives Jo has lived (first marriage, recovering in the group home, second marriage, and even childhood), she keeps secrets from those she loves, sometimes without realizing it. The book is essentially about how those secrets affect her and her life.Within the first ten pages of this book, I thought "Oo, I'm going to enjoy this book," and oh how I did. Miller writes of the emotional and psychological lives of her characters more realistically than any author I know. I savored the many details that conveyed who Jo was, how she reacted to others, and why she behaved as she did. Despite getting to know Jo as a stable, mature woman, I completely understood her earlier experience of wanting to take big risks and reinvent herself when she realizes she has been making choices to please others, at the cost of not knowing herself. We learn about Jo's relationship with her children, now young adults, and she captures the tension Jo feels in trying to be a loving mother while also conveying her respect for their independence. When Jo and her husband Daniel have a falling out, I fully understood her portrayal of the emotional experience of being polite with one another but looking for tiny clues about how he is feeling, what he is expecting. At the end, there is a scene with her elderly mother that brings together the theme of keeping secrets and it completed my understanding of Jo. It was a very satisfying experience. In some ways, this is a narrow book in that it delves into the small life of one woman; those who like stories with a lot of action and many interesting characters might not like this book. The strength of this book is the depth with which it explores and explains the emotional life of that woman. If you like detailed, psychologically real stories, you will like this book. I couldn't have enjoyed it more.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting story that keeps you guessing
Review: The main character seems to be one that at times you can relate to, and at others, your questioning her thoughts and actions. All in all it's a good book that has some shocking twists to it. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the ending, I felt that it was untrue to the character and left open.
In the end,it's a good book worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't put it down!
Review: This was the first of Sue Miller's books I have read, though it turns out several of her other stories had becomes movies that I've seen and enjoyed. While I Was Gone is a beautifully written novel, filled with twists and turns and unexpected surprises. Jo, the protagonist, is living a fulfilled and comfortable life in the Maine countriside with her husband. She is a veterinarian and he, a minister. They have three grown daughters. Their lives are full, happy, contented, until the day Jo has some sort of a premonition, or as she feels, an "admonition". Sure enough, she shortly thereafter crosses paths with a man from her past, a man who was part of a group house where she lived in her early 20s. His appearance evokes memories long since forgotten by Jo, and sends her on a journey of both self-discovery and uncovering the truth about a long-kept secret. Miller's prose is unbelievably lovely. Her descriptions, her story telling, all are remarkable. While there were a few moments where I was confused by which character was which, in the end Miller has acheived a quality all writers aspire to: weaving a compelling tale that leaves the reader satisfied, introspective and content.
Rating:
Summary: A Gripping Read
Review: Sue Miller is among my favorite authors and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Her incredible storytelling and attention to detail made me feel a part of Jo & Daniel's family. I identified with many of Jo's emotions about marriage, middle-age, and family bonds, yet the amazing thing is, I'm single, 34-years-old, and don't have, nor desire to have, any children. The one thing Jo and I did have in common was animals -- I work at an animal shelter and loved the fact her character was a vet. I did have some problems with the book, though. I liked the pacing in the beginning when Miller went back to Jo's days in the Cambridge house. Her description of the closeness amongst the house members was similar to my Boston college experience. I spent my sophmore year living that lifestyle of casual sex, drugs and late-night "house talks." But after Dana's murder the book dragged on a bit. While I was interested in Jo's family life with Daniel and the girls, I felt that the middle of the book broke the momentum that Miller had going in the beginning. This was frustrating and while I understand her reasons for slowing down I couldn't wait for the chapters where Jo & Eli would come together. Daniel's response to Jo's revelation about her meeting with Eli was frustrating too because I felt that his character would have made the effort to sort through things much more quickly. Their long-term distance from one another almost seemed out of character on both of their parts. I will definitely continue to read Sue Miller's books. She is a truly gifted writer that captures whatever moment she is attempting to portray. Great book!
Rating:
Summary: Moving book, but no conclusion
Review: I liked the book, but a little dissapointed with the conclusion. To be exact, the wasn't much of a conclusion to the main problem Jo faces. She is an established vet in a small Massachusetts town when somebody from her past returns. She is then faced with a major decision that could change her marriage and her life altogether. In "While I Was Gone" Jo has a "good life" one would say, a nice husband, 3 daughters, but she often reflects back to her college years. When reading, I might be interested to hear her talk about her life in college, then the chapter ends. Leaving me back to the present day, life with her husband and so on. Overall, the book was moving and I had sympathy for what the characters had to go through.
Rating:
Summary: Patience Will Pay Off
Review: On the surface, Jo Becker seems like any normal, middle-aged woman. She has three grown daughters, a successful veterinary practice, and a longstanding marriage that appears unshakable. But underneath this almost boring exterior, Jo's mind is restless. She's remembering her unconventional life and friends as a young woman in the 60s and is continually haunted by the bizarre, unsolved murder of a friend during that period. Then one of these old friends, Eli Mayhew, comes back into Jo's life. Jo finds that her restlessness increases, and feels how she is becoming dangerously drawn to Eli and distant from her husband. How can she reconcile her past and deal with the complex relationships that surround her? Before anyone pictures a fast-paced thriller, it must be said that this book is anything but the above adjective. Above all, author Sue Miller seems supremely unconcerned with writing anything fast-paced. Her book lingers in its decscriptions and spends much of its time on long and subtle psychological "profiles" of characters. Her first person narrative feels leisurely, and we come to know all of the everyday intricacies of Jo's life. Admittedly, the details become dull at times. It was sometimes tempting to skip a page, look ahead, or "speed read" during a particularly long-winded passage. Due to this fault, I can't give the book five stars. But that's no reason to avoid the book-it still has its admirably strong points. I was first struck by this book's beginning. Miller does an amazing job portraying Jo's quietly disconcerting restlessness with her life. I really did "feel" Jo's thoughts as I read the first chapter. This trend continues throughout the book and it's always apparent that Sue Miller can create the mood she wants. The emotional tones of the book flow almost seamlessly from restless to peacefulness to despair and it is a marvel to "watch" them change so expertly. Also, the dialogue was continually strong. Miller seems to have the gift of making her characters eloquently express feelings that the average person has, yet the characters never sound too phony or lofty. And last, the intricate characterizations and descriptions can get slightly tedious, yet some are beautiful and piercingly insightful. Be patient with this novel. Find a comfy chair on a quiet afternoon and slowly savor each word. Put yourself in the characters' shoes and don't rush. In the end, you'll find that despite a little boredom, this elegantly realistic story about an everyday person was worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: not what i was hoping for
Review: While reading this book, the only reason I continued was the feeling that it was just about to get interesting. I was truly disappointed because it never did. I felt like I flew 10 hours in an airplane, 50 feet off the ground and when I landed, realized I hadn't gone anywhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Fair Book
Review: This story was interesting but just not what I thought it would be. The ending was not what it could have been. Miller gave an ending you typically do not see. Most books leave the best for last but she just tapers at the end. The book was not bad or I would not have finished it. Read it if you please you will find parts interesting.
Rating:
Summary: I can relate . . . almost.
Review: There are three things I should point out first and foremonst: 1) You will probably have trouble liking Jo, the lead character, and her choices in life, but give her a chance. Who doesn't yearn for more excitement in life, or look back with longing at the past and what could have been? 2) I guessed who the murderer was pretty early on in the novel. But the murder mystery is only a subplot in this very complex story. It's only a catalyst for other,less tragic but just as meaningful, events. 3) Don't expect a tidy ending. That said, Sue Miller succeeded in getting this reader to empathize with Jo simply by showing how she related to others, especially to the pets she cares for as a vet. The animals don't judge, they only love unconditionally and expect love in return. How nice if her husband Daniel, a somewhat stuffy minister, followed his own teachings and at least tried to understand, if not forgive, her for contemplating an affair. (She doesn't act on her desires.) I have to say I didn't care for his character or for their three daughters - all of them very different, but successful in their own ways, and not one of them was a person I could connect with. I could see why Jo is dissatisfied. On the other hand, I also disliked Eli's character and couldn't see what the attraction was, other than her intense need to regain her lost self. I could, however, feel her love for her murdered housemate, Dana, and the pain Jo experienced at her loss - and at the loss of innocence the murder brought about - was very real to me. That helped bring her memories of the past to life, and that section of the book was by far the best.
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