false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165518000m/5176.jpg 5176 27 <b>Oprah Book Club® Selection, May 2000:</b> In her still startling debut, <I>The Good Mother</I>, Sue Miller explored the premium we put on passion--and the terrible burden it places on a mother and child. Her fourth novel, <I>While I Was Gone</I>, is another study in familial crime and punishment. But this time, her wife and good mother is accessory to more than emotional malfeasance. Jo Becker has everything a woman could desire: a loving spouse, contented children, and a nice dog or two. When her New England veterinary practice takes on a new client, however, her past comes back to haunt her. Long ago, it seems, Jo had escaped her family and identity for a commune in Cambridge. Her Aquarian illusions came to an abrupt, bloody end when one of her housemates was brutally murdered. Now this unhappy era returns in the person of Eli Mayhew, who had been the odd man out in Jo's boho household. His appearance is both tantalizing and upsetting: "Inside, I slowed down. I felt numbed. I had two last patients, and then I told Beattie to go home, that I'd close up.... I refiled the last charts, sprayed and wiped the examining table. I reviewed my list of routine surgeries for Wednesday. All the while I was thinking of Eli Mayhew, and of Dana and Larry and Duncan and me, and our lives in the house. Of the horrible way it had all ended." Sue Miller's fine novel is a penetrating--and sensuous--portrait of a woman besieged by her conscience. <I>While I Was Gone</I> also demonstrates that in the face of distance and betrayal, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing indeed. <I>--Winnie Wheaton</I> 1461856 12 2 1999 While I Was Gone total:4112|5:402|4:1316|3:1701|2:583|1:110| 4112 13653 5246 362 4 2 false false Sat Oct 20 15:58:25 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 20 16:26:17 -0700 2007 Sue Miller is a wonderful writer, and the story in While I Was Gone is incredibly compelling. I read it in one sitting and ign...more...]]> 2 2 false false Wed Aug 27 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 09:15:25 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 09:19:17 -0700 2008
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...more...]]> 2 2 false false Sat Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 08 12:55:12 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 15 20:34:23 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 15 16:09:32 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 16:30:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Wed Aug 01 06:42:55 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 01 06:45:04 -0700 2007
I spent the first 20 pages of While I Was Gone thinking it felt very familiar, but I couldn't quite put it all together. I was viewing the story through a veil of f...more...]]> 2 1 false true Wed Sep 24 11:52:31 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 24 11:57:09 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 1 false false Tue Jul 22 18:19:10 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 04 13:51:56 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 22 18:19:10 -0700 2008 Toni Morrison). While I Was Gone is that special breed of book that plummeted to 2- and 1-star territory after chapter 10.

The novel started out well enough. I empathized with Jo, the main character, as she looked ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 30 11:33:36 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 16 14:45:39 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 19:04:29 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 16 18:14:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Sun Feb 01 22:06:01 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 22:06:32 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 12 18:42:22 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 12 18:52:16 -0700 2008 twice And I found details about Sue Miller's style that I had not
paid attention to in my first go round.She is a master of
natural description and I slowed to savor the snow falling
in New England and the pleasures of wal...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 08:23:09 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 10:39:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Mon Jan 19 11:46:45 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 11:50:08 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jul 01 09:53:45 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 01 09:56:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Apr 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 24 12:26:53 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 30 12:35:49 -0700 2009



"We didn't know what wou...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu May 24 07:08:02 -0700 2007 Thu May 24 07:32:13 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Oct 07 17:30:13 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 17:37:35 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Sun Oct 25 14:33:40 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 14:33:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jul 08 20:08:33 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 20:12:33 -0700 2009
My grandmother gave me a copy to read, so I dutifully did, and I did enjoy the author's excellent use of imagery, and I can say she...more...]]> 1 0 false true Tue Jan 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 05:58:22 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 06 11:28:29 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=5176