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A decade ago she put a face on every mother's worst nightmare with her phenomenal best-sellerThe Good Mother.Now, Sue Miller delivers a spellbinding novel of love and betrayal that explores what it means to be a good wife. In the summer of 1968, Jo Becker ran out on the marriage and the life her parents wanted for her, and escaped--for one beautiful, idyllic year--into a life that was bohemian and romantic, living under an assumed name in a rambling group house in Cambridge. It was a time of limitless possibility, but it ended in a single instant when Jo returned home one night to find her best friend lying dead in a pool of blood on the living room floor. Now Jo has everything she's ever wanted: a veterinary practice she loves, a devoted husband, three grown daughters, a beautiful Massachusetts farmhouse. And if occasionally she feels a stranger to herself and wonders what happened to the freedom she once felt, or how she came to be the wife, mother, and doctor her neighbors know and trust--if at times she feels as if her whole life is vanishing behind her as she's living it--she need only look at her daughters or her husband, Daniel, to recall the satisfactions of family and community and marriage. But when an old housemate settles in her small town, the fabric of Jo's life begins to unravel: seduced again by the enticing possibility of another self and another life, she begins a dangerous flirtation that returns her to the darkest moment of her past and imperils all she loves. While I Was Goneis an exquisitely suspenseful novel about how quickly and casually a marriage can be destroyed, how a good wife can find herself placing all she holds dear at risk. In expert strokes, Sue Miller captures the precariousness of even the strongest ties, the ease with which we abandon each other, and our need to be forgiven. An extraordinary book, her best, from a beloved American writer.… (more)
User reviews
Miller's prose is so natural and
In terms of style, the book reminded me a great deal of 'Saturday', by Ian McEwan, and I'd suggest that if you liked this, you might like that one too.
The beauty of the book was in its un-exaggerated portrayal of an imperfect,
The story is interesting and made it difficult for me to put down the book once I picked it up. The plot flattens out towards the end, but that seems almost inevitable in most stories.
The language is simple and therefore easy to read.
All in all, a good read - different and in a way refreshing.
I found the protagonist annoying and self-indulgent in a way that didn't jibe at all with the way she thought of herself. Further, her inability to see it, even
At points, her descriptions and observations, while interesting and well drawn, dragged on. Her focus on minutia rang untrue to me, her description of her marriage and her husband was so perfect, that it made what followed wholly unbelievable.
In fact, all the male characters in this book, from her husband, to Eli, to the other men in "the house" felt more like a woman's fantasy of what a man is than anyone I've actually known.
Not a bad pick if you're willing to have a quick read, nostalgic for the 60s, and willing to not think too much.
I had a feeling that Eli killed Dana from the very beginning. Why else would he be coming into things and what other revelation could shake things off kilter so much? I do see how the admission of temptation can be a relationship wrecker. Daniel was hurt more by her wanting to sleep with Eli than he might have been if she actually had. He said that it took his confession of the murder of her old friend to keep Jo from doing it.
The 3 girls were interesting though. Jo bringing the police into things after Eli’s confession alienated the one daughter that had any remaining closeness to her mother. Eli’s wife is one of the daughter’s most admired professors and after Jo’s revelation, the wife no longer wants to work with the daughter on a special project that counts as two credits for the daughter. It would have been interesting to see how the relationship could have been saved…both relationships actually.
In the end, the police can’t prove Jo’s accusation after Eli denies it saying that she accused him only because he rebuffed her advances (men’s egos can be so fragile they will do anything to protect them). Daniel is hurt for a while & they spend some time apart (he to a conference, she to help her ailing mother). When he picks her up at Logan, they fall back into the rhythm of their lives.
One thing that one of the other daughters said struck me as true; it’s easy for things to be hard. A hard life is sometimes a cop-out because the person didn’t have strength to find happiness. Having a happy life if work sometimes.
But it's not her falsity that hangs like sour fruit. It's her selfishness that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. She misinterprets the intentions of the old roommate and begins to fantasize about an affair with him. When she thinks about how easy it would be to commit adultery she barely gives thought to whether or not her husband has ever thought about straying. When a terrible secret stands between Jo and having the affair she expects her husband to support her and not be upset by the turn of events.
The best part of While I was Gone was the character development of Jo's husband. Watching Daniel struggle with jealousy and anger was like a metamorphosis. He emerges a different man.
This book made me question secrets. Which is worse? A half truth or a half lie?
Then, Jo's veterinary practice takes on a new client who brings her into contact with a
She becomes obsessed with that period of her life and with the crime that concluded it. Jo's obsession will eventually estrange her from everything that 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.
I really enjoyed this book. Sue Miller is a new author for me, although I do have The Good Mother sitting somewhere on my bookshelves. I have never read it before but certainly am looking forward to read it some time soon. I give this book an A+! and actually said to Mareena as I closed this book that I thought it would have made a great movie - she just told me that a movie was made of While I Was Gone in 2004.
I dislike being told all about a character, especially by the character herself. Show me, and let me experience the story rather than instructing me. I found much of the narrative to be a little trite, and sometimes too "Harlequinesque".
Far
I found much of her behavior hard to buy. Perhaps because it was so often explained after incidents occurred. Frankly, I found her to be quite stupid. For instance, her daughter, Sadie, is responsible for getting her involved with another character, but when problems develop between them, the effect this might have on Sadie doesn't even occur to her.
No matter how understanding I tried to be of Jo's growth process, I couldn't develop any fondness for the heroine. In some cases, negative feelings about the protagonist can work wonderfully - not so in this case. Primarily, she frustrated me and I found myself repeatedly wanting to see her either shut up or grow up. The fact that she finally seems to accomplish this in the end was, for this reader, too little too late.
November 2007 COTC Book Club selection.