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Title: While I Was Gone

Author: Sue Miller

Narrator: Buffy Davis

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-03-10

Publisher: ISIS Audio Books

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Perhaps its best to live with the possibility that around any corner, at any time, may come the person who reminds you of your own capacity to surprise yourself, to put at risk everything thats dear to you

Thirty years ago, Jo Beckers bohemian life ended when she found her best friend brutally murdered. Now Jo had everything: work she loves, a devoted husband, three grown daughters and a beautiful home. But when an old friend settles in her small town, the fabric of Jos life begins to unravel, as she enters a relationship that returns her to the darkest moments of her past, imperilling all that she loves.

Members Reviews:

A tough book to like

While I was Gone by Sue Miller was a difficult book to enjoy. I found that the book was written well, but it was hard for me to have any sympathy for the main character, Jo Becker: a 50-ish woman, married, three daughters, and had a thriving career as a veterinarian.

But despite the good things in her life, she is drawn to her distant past that she had kept secret from her children for decades. She meets and reacquaints herself, through one daughter's professor in college, with a man she hadn't seen since the 1960's, a man whom she shares a terrible secret.

The book is written in the present, but takes a u-turn into Jo's past when she meets this old acquaintance, Eli, and then relives the rather bohemian lifestyle when she lived with a number of housemates a year or two after leaving her first husband, a college sweetheart. The past reveals a different side of Jo, a side that her daughters are not aware of, and a side that her current husband, the father of her daughters, cannot comprehend, but had accepted, or so Jo thought.

What I didnt' like about Jo was that it seemed that throughout her life, she was running away from her problems. She ran away from her first husband by joining a group of people and living a bohemian life. Even as an adult she was running away, if not physically, at least mentally and emotionally. I find that distasteful in a person, and therefore I had a very hard time liking Jo.

Despite this fact, I enjoyed the story for what it was: a psychological look into a person and how tragedies in this person's past shaped her and changed her to what she became in the present. Despite the many negative aspects of the story (dont' expect a happy ending), I found this book to be very enjoyable on a different level. I didnt' like Jo, but I found myself very interested in what happens to her, and what happened to her in her past. For this reason, it didnt' take me long to finish this book. I almost couldn't put it down.

I recommend this book, but with a warning - you will probably not like Jo Becker. Be prepared for that!

Not for me

Terribly boring. Flat characters. Got half way through and couldn't continue.

Very nicely done

A literate, well-written book that flows smoothly, is interesting, and makes you think. It is very much a woman's book -- a lot of emphasis on intra-family relationships, cooking, holiday times, seasonal changes, aging -- rather than a bam/bang mystery story. (I get the distinct imporession that all the other reviewers to date are women). Not my usual cup of tea, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author's prose style is clear and flows so smoothly...I have also enjoyed her earlier work. Buy this book whether you are a man or a woman if you appreciate excellent writing.