While I Was Gone by Sue Miller Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of While I Was Gone
Book Review: Insightful, satisfying fiction.
Summary: 5 Stars
It took me two evenings to read Miller's novel that offersinsights into the lives of middle agers who went through some harrowing experiences in the 1960's. Expieriences that inevitably serve to shape the course of their lives to come. How we live and how we constantly mediate our outer existences with our inner desires is crafted into an interesting read. Sue Miller seems to get better and better at revealing some of lives truths and mysteries, making the reader reflect on, and sometimes cry about the lives the reader is presently inhabiting.Book Review: Engaging, masterful, thought provoking
Summary: 5 Stars
I inhaled this book. The characters were beautifully real, thestoryline complex and surprising. The writing is masterful, astonishing. Don't miss it!Book Review: NOT GREAT, BUT OKAY
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a Sue Miller fan from way back when - the Good Mother andFamily Pictures are among my favorite books. This book certainly kept my attention and evoked a lovely sense of place and time, but it was disappointing. The marriage between Jo and Daniel bordered on nauseating, and the sex scenes were so overdone that I felt as though I were reading a bodice-ripper. They were totally overdone and quite graphic. Spare me! Good fiction doesn't need this. Overall,okay story but disappointing and not up to Sue Miller's usual standards. - wait for the paperbackBook Review: An Entertaining Read, But Cheaply Melodramatic
Summary: 3 Stars
Jo has a happy, secure life with her loving minister husband,Daniel, in a picturesque New England town. One day Eli Mayhew moves to town. Jo knew Eli in the Sixties when they lived in a commune in Cambridge with several other people. Jo joined the commune after running away from her first short-lived marriage. The commune exists happily, until Dana, it's brightest member is visciously murdered, the murder never solved. The tragic results of what happens when Eli meets Jo again after all these years is the 'stuff' of this book. But this murder mystery in the guise of a contemporary woman's novel is cheaply melodramatic and Jo is a very unlikeable, self-centered character, although the portrayal of family life is excellent, especially the depiction of Jo and her difficult twenty-something daughter, Cass. If I want to read outstanding murder mysteries I'll stick with authors like Ruth Rendell. She does this sort of thing so much better.Book Review: A must read, instant bonding for women over 40
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished Sue Miller's While I Was Gone and can't wait toread her other books. This story moved me, many of the situations described in it regarding children, sense of self, and relationships were right on the mark. Miller takes these everyday situations and vague thoughts all of us have and gives them clarity. To be able to write so that your reader knows exactly what you mean and can visualize the scene is a gift and Miller has this gift and shares it with us often. One powerful example of this talent is her chapter dealing with the death of a parishioner in the small Massachusetts town where the main characters, Jo and Daniel live and work. Miller's treatment of the sermon following the death of a young mother was both enlightening and comforting. She says exactly what you want to hear without being trite. This story is realistic and at the same time it makes you feel good. I hope you read this book.