Rating: 
Summary: Good Read
Review: Sue Miller's book was realistic. It seemed more like a biography than non-fiction. When the murderer was revealed, I never saw it coming which delighted me to no end!
Rating:
Summary: Wanting the unknown...
Review: In "While I Was Gone" Miller tells us the story of Jo and how her mistakes hurt her family...and herself. The underlying theme, to me, is not so much the story of what happens to women as we grow older, but instead the signifigance of not being happy with what we have. Jo mistakes unpredictability for boredom: "...I was...sharply aware of all the aspects of life surrounding me, and yet feeling neither part of it nor truly separated from it...an observer." The return of her daughters triggers memories of the world she was -- still -- very much a part of. We learn that Jo left a previous marriage out of boredom and moved into a house with people who, although she does not keep in touch with, left a lasting impression on her life. The incident that separated all of the housemates was in the past -- that is, until Eli - a former housemate- moves to her town. Meanwhile, as she watches her daughters become adults, she longs for the unpredictability of her youth and holds onto a lost friendship. The moral of the story? Be careful what you wish for and who you may hurt along the way!
Rating:
Summary: I was gone.....
Review: In While I Was Gone, Sue Miller creates "Jo" and beautifully composes the story of Jo's life. Jo is a vet, is seemingly happily married, has three wonderful daughters, a beautiful house, lively dogs....and is unhappy. Jo faces a point in her life when she feels everything is all too predictable...until Eli Mayhew, her secret crush from her secretive past, moves into town.
Jo recalls her earlier marriage, which she -- literally -- ran away from and moved into a home with other youngsters. Jo concludes her "other life" with her so-called best friend - Dana - being found dead in the living room of the house she and her friends lived in. With Dana's death came the death of Jo's fantasy life. She and the other roommates split up and go their separate ways. Jo loses touch with these people and goes back to her more-ordinary life, divorcing the man she left, becoming a vet, and eventually getting married to Daniel and having her three daughters: Cass, Nora and Sadie. Her secretive past is "forgotten" and rarely sopoken about...until Eli -- one of her roommates -- moves to her town.
With Eli's arrival come the arrival of feelings Jo has long buried. Eli was the "mysterious one" of the bunch in the house, very secretive and -- in Jo's eyes -- very handsome. His return into her life causes her to cast doubt on the life she lives with Daniel and her daughters. Jo wonders what her meaning in life is -- a question that many of us ask as our lives change and as we mature. She no longer sees excitement, purpose and goodness in her life. Jo is blindsighted by Eli as they discuss the past that Jo thinks they share...until he shares with her a secret that she would've been better off not knowing.
In this novel, we learn to examine our own lives-- and then to re-examine our lives. Looking deeply into our lives provides us with more meaning, a meaning that Jo fails to recognize in her own life -- until it-- and her marriage-- is nearly destroyed. The reader learns from Jo's mistakes, and we are left with a message: Life is full of surprises. Some are wonderful, some are not. And, more importantly, the surprises never subside -- rather they take on a different nature. Youth brings surprises that are new, surprises that make us grow and which play a large part in determining who we are and what choices we make in life. Adulthood brings surprises that can act as reminders of not knowing what will happen next -- for the next generation as well as our own. Change is constant. Exitement may change its form, but it never subsides -- a lesson that we should all learn before jumping to conclusions and thinking that we know all there is to know in life...no matter how old we are or how much we have experienced.
Rating: 
Summary: The shadows of yesterday....
Review: In While I was Gone, Sue Miller writes about growing older, family values, trust, honesty and betrayal. As the main character, "Jo", examines her life, she is no longer happy. For her life has become so predictable....or so she thinks she was "sharply aware of all of the aspects of life...and yet feeling neither part of it nor truly separated from it...an observer." Despite her happy marriage to her husband, Daniel, and their three wonderful daughters, Jo finds monotony in her life. She yearns for the unexpected. This is a lesson that shows us to be careful what we wish for....Eli Mayhew, an old friend of Jo's, moves into town and Jo's memories of living in a home with Eli and other youngsters come back to life. I personally found this part to be the most interesting: Jo recalls her earlier life and weaves a story about the loss of one of her roomates' and good friend, Dana. Jo is seemingly stuck in her past -- her carefree past, or so she thought...until Eli Mayhew enters her life again. Here, we feel sorry for Jo as she tries to unfold a secret that she perceives she and Eli Mayhew share, for they both knew Dana and both are haunted by her death.
As the secrets unfold, so does Jo's marriage and relationships with her daughters. Jo risks losing her marriage as she chases after information that is better left unspoken, unheard. Jo's longing for the past and what truth it holds may come true, but how far into her past will she delve before she realizes she is in way over her head!?! As Jo finds her earlier years to be exiting and adventurous, she believes that her life as a middle aged mother and wife is all too predictable. We learn that hoping for the unpredictability of her youth is very mixed up with her other desires. Is Jo looking to add more excitement to her life through the wrong means? Decide for yourself!!
Rating: 
Summary: Subtle, ambiguous, and absorbing book
Review: "While I Was Gone" was the first book I've read by Sue Miller and now I'll certainly read more. I thought it was an excellent book, mentally engaging, full of subtlety and ambiguity. The main character Jo's life choices, and the events that shape who she's become are thoroughly explored. Not only that, the book was a real page turner due to the central mystery of the story, that was resolved near the end. I'm irritated at the (in my opinion, mindless) comments that say, "I hated the character so therefore the book is bad." I don't understand what one thing has to do with the other. The point is, the character is well drawn in all her complexity and imperfection, and the relationship dynamics are realistically portrayed. Don't miss this book!
Rating:
Summary: Giving In To Temptation
Review: Sue Miller's While I Was Gone is an excellent novel telling the story of Jo, a fiftyish woman, mother, wife with a secret. For some reason, I believed her "secret" was a life she led before she met her husband and settled down, but that's not it. Her secret, her sin, is her wanderlust that caused her to escape an earlier marriage with no other excuse than boredom. She then lived in a commune of sorts, in the late sixties with a group of other young people. For reasons I won't divulge, that life ends and she ultimately establishes her career as a vet, marries a wonderful, even in her opinion, man and has three daughters. When one of the other commune members pops back, unexpectedly, into her life, she is tempted again by that wanderlust. Jo is a flawed and very much believable character. I found myself getting mad at her for some of her behavior, yet I could still understand why she did what she did. This novel would make an excellent basis for a reading group discussion because nothing in the novel is all that unbelievable and for the most part the choices Jo is faced with, or thought she was faced with could happen to any of us, but not all would follow her path. While I Was Gone is a very well done novel, well told and engaging. Much food for thought and discussion.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful read from a masterful writer!
Review: I was entranced with this fine novel until its last page. Sue Miller's writing reminds of Anne Tyler, Jane Hamilton and Jane Smiley. She never disappoints -- the story is frighteningly real, seemingly ordinary but enigmatic, with multi-layered characters and a plot that moves along like a brook. I shall continue to read books from this brilliant and masterful writer...
Rating:
Summary: While I Was Gone--A good read!
Review: I think these other reader reviewers must have missed something. This book was very absorbing, and although at times it WAS hard to relate to this complex and sometimes aggravating character, I believe that this detachment added to instead of detracting from the story.
Jo Becker, like any woman who has been married for years and is experiencing empty nest syndrome, experiences some fantasies about what her life could have been. These fantasies lead her back to a different time in her life and face to face with a murderer.
I thought Jo was NUTS to not appreciate the life, albeit plain in it's normalcy, that she had, but to me that added depth to her character and left me with sort of a life lesson that I too needed to take a good look around me and count my blessings.
I definitely think this book is not only worth reading, but would recommend it to anyone who is feeling a little discontented with their marriage or their "normal" life.
Rating: 
Summary: Me
Review: I picked up this book and it took me a very long time to finish, the story line just didn't catch my attention enough to want to keep reading it. It was really hard to relate to the main character and it was also hard to understand her reasoning for the things she did. It would have been a much better story if it only was about her past life.
Rating:
Summary: DULL, DULL, DULL
Review: This is certainly not one of her better books. The pace moved like a snail and I found the characters to be utterly boring. Forget this one!
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