Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Jo is such a great character. I could relate to her desperate wanderings from this life to her past life. Wondering which life was the best life. Always wanting something different from what she has. I thought that she was a very believable character, and very sympathetic. I also felt that Daniel was very credible. I saw a lot of men I know rolled up into his character.
Rating: 
Summary: Hoped for more
Review: I had just completed my last final exam of an 11 year "return to college". Imagine my delight as I sat down & turned the TV to Oprah to see her introduce her latest book club selection! Finally a chance to read something without having to hold a highlighter in my right hand. But what a disappointment I was in for! I couldn't understand any of the characters. How could Jo & her husband be together when they seemed to value different things? I couldn't imagine a group of young people living together in the 1960's being more uptight than this group was. Dana sounded like an annoying, people pleaser, who never heard the word "boundary" before. Eli was pompous, shallow & weak. The ending of the story was frustrating & made me glad when the story was over. As someone who has missed reading for pleasure for many years, I hope this choice isn't indicative of Oprah's other Book Club selections.
Rating: 
Summary: While I Was Gone
Review: This book was okay. I am usually a big fan of Oprah's Book Club, however, I felt this one kind of dragged. It was very hard to have a feel for the characters. The book is also VERY predictable.
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: Very Disappointing
Review: It is clear that from a technical standpoint, the author can write. Her use of the English language and her lavish and identifiable prose are great. However, the storyline was disappointing and I could not relate to this character or her issues in the slightest. At times, I felt that instead of being a doctor, she should have been seeing a doctor, complete with a heatlhy dose of medication. I found Jo to be incredibly self absorbed and self centered as she meandered her way through life.It is one thing to possess these characteristics when you are in your 20's and trying to gain some sense of self awareness and self direction. However, it is something entirely different when you are in your 40's with a husband and adult children. Life is ordinarily about learning for ones prior experiences and hopefully not making the same or similiar mistake in the future. It seemed that throughout her life, she would act without any regard for the impact of her actions on those people who surrounded her. Her obsession with Eli was somewhat odd in light of the fact that although they lived together in a house with several people, they were never truly close. Consequently her fascination and obsession with him and fantasies about him were somewhat bizarre given her previous limited interactions with him. I did not quite get what she was trying to prove to herself with this obsession. Over and above the fact that he was a part of a very tragic part of her life, it appeared that she sought something else from her interaction with him of which I could not ascertain. I saw this book as more about issues of self awareness and less about issues of morality and redemption. In my estimation, a healthy dose of self awareness and realization goes a long way in resolving, personally, those issues of our own morality and redemption. In some sense, Jo had difficulty seperating fantasy from reality. If Jo were someone I personally knew, I would advise that she might want to read "Tuesday's with Morrie" and hopefully gain both a life and reality check.
Rating:
Summary: Good story about conflicting emotions
Review: I really liked this book from the first page. I understood the main character - middle-aged, with house, marriage, career, kids - things she loves and appreciates - still looking back and wondering what happened to that 20-something person she was and mourning the loss of intense friendships and freedom. I liked the descriptions of Jo's thought processes. Yes, the book could have been a lot more complicated, but by concentrating on the one main character, the important issue was drawn more completely. I found myself thinking about the story for hours after I finished the book, and feeling more satisfied by it the more I turned it over in my mind. The murder, however, seemed like an unnecessary vehicle to get the character from one emotional spot to another - I wish the author had done it some other way.
Rating:
Summary: While I was Gone
Review: I found myself let down by this book. I did not feel connected to the characters or their relationships at all. The beginning of the book moved faster than the middle and end. The plot dragged. As the climax drew near I had already figured out what was about to happen. Overall, I found the book to be dull with a lot of unimportant information that dragged along.
Rating: 
Summary: RENCHING
Review: Jo's character is simply bones penetrating.I was drven into her life with an outmopst force.I wonder why?Read the book.You might find out the answer for me.
Rating:
Summary: While I Was Gone
Review: Once you get into this book, you can't put it down or forget it when you've finished. As in Sue Miller's book, The Good Mother, the main character has difficult choices to make with her personal life, and I'm not sure she makes the right decision. It definitely makes you wonder what you would do in her shoes. There are also interesting contrasts between her professional and private life.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful read
Review: Interesting moral issues are raised in this novel. Jo is a complex character who despite her faults I could not help liking. this is typically not my kind of book, but I enjoyed it. It still has me thinking. I also recomend: "A Tourist in the Yucatan"
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