Rating: 
Summary: Worth the read
Review: Very interesting, worth reading. I liked her writing style.
Rating: 
Summary: challenged by simple moral questions
Review: Okay, let's start by saying that Jo/Joey/Lish is perhaps the most dishonest narrator in the history of the novel (only Nabokov's Pale Fire seems to come close). In fact, she's so dishonest that I believe that she is the murderer and the whole book is a con job. She was in love with Eli, Dana was going to renew her relationship and so Jo killed her. Now, years later, when Eli rejected her again, she decided to try and pin it on him. That's the only theory I can come up with to salvage this novel. Otherwise, Jo is just so artificial and dishonest and so deserving of a horse whipping, that the book is irredeemable.The dust jacket of the book actually claims the following: While I Was Gone is an exquisitely suspenseful novel about how quickly a marriage can be destroyed, how a good wife can find herself placing all she holds dear at risk. In expert strokes, Sue Miller captures the precariousness of even the strongest ties, the ease with which we abandon each other, and our need to be forgiven. Huh? That's not the book that's contained within the jacket. Jo is a horrible wife, mother, friend, daughter and person. Her life is a stack of lies and she's an impulsive, thrill seeking cretin. I don't know which was the most annoying moment in the book--the two bailouts in her first marriage, the initial dalliance with an employee, the attempt to cheat on Daniel with Eli or the horrifying moment when she announces her jealousy of her daughter's scrumping in the back of a van while the rest of the band watched. Actually, I'm pretty sure that last one is the worst. The level of sustained delusion that Jo achieves during her narrative has to make one question her sanity. The saccharin 60's flashback to the Cambridge commune is especially, though unintentionally, hilarious. Through the mists of memory she sees this as her golden moment, when she was free & in love with everyone & everything, but especially with Dana. Who, by the way, she had never even told her real name or shared her true life story with. I mean c'mon. This is a book that cries for the tiger to be let out of the cage. Someone, Daniel or Eli or Jo needed to just go gothic and start whacking people left and right. As is, we have the ridiculous wrap up where the police decide not to look into this matter, Eli & Jo decide to coexist & Daniel comes crawling back like a whipped cur. Finally, let me just say that I fear for a nation where it's treated as a great moral dilemma when someone has to decide whether to report that they have information about a murder. (David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedar used this device too, only there the character could exonerate a suspect.) Here's a little rule of thumb, if you considered someone a friend, you're sort of obligated to let the police know that you know who murdered her, okay? Ms Miller seems to be particularly challenged by these rather simple moral questions. As I recall, her book The Good Mother, depended on our sharing her sense of injustice that a Father tried regaining custody of his daughter merely because the mother's boyfriend engaged in questionable sexual behavior with her. Hello? GRADE: D
Rating:
Summary: THE MISSING PIECE OF THE PUZZLE
Review: Sue Miller takes a mundane subject like reuniting with an old house mate, and gives it enough unexpected variation to make it interesting and believable. Jo, the once 20ish free spirit, is now in her 50s, a veterinarian, a mother, and the wife of a minister. By a series of coincidences, she runs into an old friend, Eli, and he solves a 30 year old murder mystery (in a way she doesn't expect). Her actions from that point forward teach two valuable lessons, that Eli isn't the person she remembers and that her own emotions can't be trusted. Jo, at times is an unsympathetic character, but, while reading this book, I kept thinking, aren't we all.
Rating: 
Summary: well worth it
Review: Find your favorite chair, get that favorite drink, and escape into a great story.
Rating: 
Summary: A definite good read
Review: A riveting story of a middle aged woman who's history shows that she tends to run from her problems without facing them. A days all of the truths will come to light. Sue Miller develops the characters of Jo in a very powerful way. Jo shows us what implusive human nature decisions can bring. She continues to flee her past and hide events that have shape who she really is from her family. This is a woman who has a devoted husband (who is a minister), three lovely daughters, and a career that makes her happy. But het and still that is something that is still lingering in her past that she has never gotten closure on. Enter Eli Mayhew . . a blast from the past. Literally. Eli re-enters into her life and causes havic for Jo. The murder of one of her closest friends that has never been resolved will know be revealed. In seeing Eli, an old roommate, the truth will finally come out. Sue Miller's captures readers with atention to details of the family. This is an thought provoking and amazing book to read.
Rating:
Summary: Should We Forgive
Review: This novel was more about forgiveness ultimately. I believe in forgiveness, because I want to be forgiven. At times I didn't like Jo very much. I found her a little self centered. The author shows all sides of Jo's character, leaving you loving her and not liking her at times. What a wonderful husband she has. She is so full of life and fantasies. But we need to careful about how far we take them, don't we Jo. I don't want to give away anything so just read it, its worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: While I Was Gone
Review: I am an avid reader and I read many types of books. This book was one of the best I read in a very long time. Honest approach to heart renching feelings. Got my vote and recommendation to many of my friends.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and intriguing epic
Review: This is one of the best books I've read this year. Jo is a woman who seems to have it all, yet feels bored and restless. I feel that many people will identify with her longing to relive her youthful days of adventure. The characters are vividly drawn, and interesting. This book examines a very frightening moral dilemna whose implications are startling. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing - but back cover gave away ending
Review: This was the first book I read over the summer and it was a great one to begin with. It was not as light and fluffy as the rest of my self-made summer reading list, but just as quick and easy-to-read. I loved the author's writing style and eloquent use of language and the way she glides back and forth between the present and past. Although I figured out the "mystery" well before I was probably supposed to, I think she did a good job of suspense and foreshadowing. In fact, had it not been for the review on the back cover from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, I probably would not have figured it out ahead of time. I recommend to anyone who purchases this book to resist reading that review!
Rating: 
Summary: tedium
Review: This was a pathetic read. It read like pages out of someone's boring diary. There were at least seven separate themes, none of which were developed through to maturity. These themes possibly included the brutal loss of a close friend, "finding one's self" in the sixties, being "trapped" in life, father-mother-offspring triangle, mother daughter conflict, husband wife conflict, amd more conflict apon the discovery of the brutal killer of said friend decades later. Possibly the book intended to illustrate life as a series of unending, unresolved conflict. None of the characters were developed, merely decsribed. The only relevant idea alluded to an innate need of unconditional love. This idea never matured either. The book gives nothing to take away except, perhaps, be aware of bad boyfriends. This book was a relief to finish.
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