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Search - While I Was Gone
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Book Description:
Oprah's Book Club selection.Members who requested this book also requested:
"Gripping, close-to-the-bone fiction... Sue Miller is one of American fiction's most knowing chroniclers of domestic life... While I Was Gone urges us to consider, very carefully, what's best told and what's best kept private. As Jo is whisked along her journey of self-revelation, Miller elevates her story into a parable of '60s survivors shocked to find themselves, in what was expected to be stable middle age, once again on the brink of the abyss...While I Was Gone is the most accomplished novel in a career that began promisingly with The Good Mother"
- New York Newsday
"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.
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Genres:Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD (Abridged), Paperback
Top Member Reviews
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
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.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Ok book, not memorable. I had to read the description to remember this book, which to me, means I would not read again.
Jean H. from MIDDLEBRANCH, OH wrote on 3/11/2007...
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
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.
Maureen C. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
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.
ANNA S. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
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!
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is a great chick read! You will want to finish just to see how the story unravels.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
It was a depressing and disturbing book. Even though Miller is among the best of contemporary novelists, her books can be very sad.
Dianne S. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I so enjoyed this book. I was drawn in from the begining, surprised in the middle, and satisfied with the end. I felt very close to the character. I will look for other books by this author.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Engrossing read that builds tension from the first few pages. The end was a let down for me, however, and utterly unrealistic from my point of view. What, they couldn't do a lie detector test or something? Besides that, good read about faith, trust and reconciling with your past.
Lisa N. from FAIRFAX, VA wrote on 3/13/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Loved it - a thoughtful story
Rate These Member Reviews
I found this book to be wonderfully written. It was very surprising to me just how much I identified with the central character and her apparent flaws. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read.
this is an awesome book its not for children i had a really hard time to put it down i read it in a day and a half its really a great book
An intriguing look into what happens when you think a chapter or chapters of your life are closed. There are some secrets and lies that will always surface and duplicity is exposed in many areas of the narrator's life. The author is able to capture well the frustration and disillusion of the narrator at mid-life and the complex emotions she experiences when her past resurfaces and touches her life in an unexpected way.
Sandra W. wrote on 3/28/2008...A bittersweet story of a woman who meets up with an old friend from her younger days in the 1960's, and despite her husband and children, revisits that time with the friend, even though he admits to her a terrible secret he has held all these years.
Cara W. from GARDNER, MA wrote on 3/12/2008...I thought this book was too slow moving. I only got about half way through it and put it down.
Marjorie B. ("Miller weaves her themes of secrecy, betrayal and forgiveness into a narrative that shines."........Time
Debra R. from PLANTATION, FL wrote on 4/4/2007...from Oprah's book club
I read this one some time ago. If I remember right it is a good book. I like Oprah Book Club books.