Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - While I Was Gone

While I Was Gone
While I Was Gone
Author: Sue Miller
Despite having a loving husband, three vivacious daughters, a beautiful home in rural Massachusetts, and satisfaction in her work, Jo Becker's mind is invaded by a persistent restlessness. Then, an old roommate reappears to bring back Jo's memories of her early 20s. Her obsession with that period of her life and with the crime that concl...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780345443281
ISBN-10: 0345443284
Publication Date: 1999
Pages: 304
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 742

3.4 stars, based on 742 ratings
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

SanJoseCa avatar reviewed While I Was Gone on + 328 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 10
This is a story of how one womans past comes back to haunt her, when a man she knew 25 years ago, moves into the small New England town, where Jo is a veterinarian and happily married. Jo finds her "old friend," Eli, upsetting and at the same time tantalizing. Can she confront her past yet stay true to her marriage?
I loved the authors penchants for detail and good dialogue. It helped to make the story "real." This novel is a "page-turner," with many surprises!
Modaba avatar reviewed While I Was Gone on + 75 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
Very well written, but I did find it difficult to relate to the main character. Although I cannot personally relate to the inner struggles Jo experienced, I think that Sue Miller did an excellent job of creating a flawed heroine...a survivor of the "late 1960's, early 1970's" era of American culture. I couldn't put this book down once I got into it.
reviewed While I Was Gone on
Helpful Score: 6
Sue Miller allows the reader to reflect on their own life at the same time as the main character, Jo. Or was that just me? I read the book in a smooth fashion and while my brain computed Miller's story, it also computed my own story. My own memories, my own past, my own connections from the past to the 'now.' The character's thoughts were potent, raw and brutally honest. I loved the pace, the anticipation, the suspense that Miller eloquently builds page to page. A sparkling book with so many 'real life' moments.
reviewed While I Was Gone on + 52 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
From the back cover, "Fascinating . . . A New Novel of Great Integrity and Power . . . Despite having a loving husband, three vivacious daughters, a beautiful home in rural Massachusetts, and satisfaction in her work, Jo Becker's mind is invaded by a persistent restlessness. Then, an old roommate reappears to bring back Jo's memories of her early 20s . . . . Her obsession with that period of her life and with the crime that concluded it eventually estrange Jo from everything she holds dear, causing her to tell lie after lie as she is pulled closer to this man from her past...and to a horrible secret." Well, yes, that does describe it, but I think it deserved a little more mention of the fact that the book really connects her present life with her past in a way that the past is very involved in her life now. It is an easy ready, found myself thinking about the characters when I wasn't reading the book ... that's my judgment of a pretty good book. I liked it.
reviewed While I Was Gone on
Helpful Score: 4
The mystery of a friend's murder when younger seems to haunt her memories. When the truth comes out she does the only thing she can, and her decision puts her marriage to the test.
Read All 122 Book Reviews of "While I Was Gone"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed While I Was Gone on
This book had some surprises. It was well written. Could have been more suspenseful. Overall-v good.
reviewed While I Was Gone on + 4 more book reviews
Another great beach read. Really a fascinating book of what happens to a young woman.
reviewed While I Was Gone on + 55 more book reviews
Facinating book with well drawn characters and a suspenseful storyline.
reviewed While I Was Gone on
Not a bad read. Some parts were a little slow but overall a good relationship between characters.
reviewed While I Was Gone on + 404 more book reviews
"A beautiful and frightening book...swoops gracefully between the past and the present, between a woman's complex feelings about her husband and her equally complex fantasies-and fears-about another man..."

I felt that the "Converstion with Sue Miller" at the end of the book really helped to clarify things, and increased my satisfaction with the book.
reviewed While I Was Gone on + 6 more book reviews
A fascinating novel by Sue Miller (author of The Good Mother).
09suzij avatar reviewed While I Was Gone on + 41 more book reviews
I did not enjoy this book. I not did not even finish reading it, a rarity for me. Very Olive Kittredge-like plot; that is, none.
aprillynn avatar reviewed While I Was Gone on + 73 more book reviews
This book had a promising storyline, but bogged down with a lot of unnecessary story telling that didn't apply to the plot. It took me about 70 pages to get into what the book was even about. I couldn't relate with the main character, Jo, she seemed so unhappy about everything. The ending was rushed, unrealistic and unsatisfying.
LivingInPurple avatar reviewed While I Was Gone on + 43 more book reviews
I was disappointed when reading this book of how much of it was setting up the history and scene. To much potatoes and not enough meat.
reviewed While I Was Gone on
I didn't much care for this book. Oprah made it seem way better than what it was.


Genres: