While I Was Gone

New York: A Ballantine Book Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group a division of Random House, Inc. Front, Rear Covers, Spine Lightly Chipped; Spine Slightly Cocked; Edges Lightly Soiled; Moderate Yellowing Due to Age; Inside Front and Rear Covers Heavily Yellowed Due to Age (Inside Front Cover Has A Stark White Rectangle in Upper Right Corner (No Explanation)). Sue Miller, author of The Good Mother. COVER PHOTO BY: Jane Yeomans. TV TIE-IN: This novel was the basis for the 2004 Made-for-Television film of the same name. AWARDS: Oprah's Book Club; Selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club. REVIEWS: "Riveting... The narrative pacing is masterly, building tension even in the most psychologically subtle passages... While I Was Gone celebrate[s] what is impulsive in human nature. Miller does many things well in this novel. She shows a deep respect for all her characters. You experience the pleasure of the commune's members at the same time that you understand the contempt they are held in by the police [and] their community... The scenes are emotionally textured... The story is at once so well made and vividly imagined that one might call it an exercise in spontaneous craftmanship."--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times. "The best passages here are the quiet ones in which Miller displays her remarkable ear and eye for the understated interplay among members of a family--among mother and daughters, among sisters, between husband and wife. If the mystery brings us into the story, it is these moments, deeply rendered, that keep us there."--Arizona Republic. "The best fiction usually contains a lead character with whom the reader can identify. In her new novel, While I Was Gone, Sue Miller has created a fascinating, realistic character in veterinarian Jo Becker, who finds herself increasingly haunted by the events of her early adulthood... Miller writes with exceptional power. Her strength lies in her ability to bring the conflicting emotions of her characters to life... While I Was Gone is an engrossing novel, filled with emotion and depth."--The Denver Post. "The author of the gripping bestseller The Good Mother is in full flower in her fourth novel... Once betrayal has done its poisonous work, Miller tenderly explains in this deeply affecting story, forgiveness is excruciating--and crucial."--Entertainment Weekly. "The beauty of this novel is that it manages to unearth the married, middle-aged mystique without attacking it. This real family, with inter-sibling tension and jealousy and strained mother-daughter love, does not fall apart; this real marriage, with monotony and misunderstandings, reconciliation and rift, does not collapse. Miller manages to find the touching line between fairy-tale perfection and shock-oriented narrative, and the result is an account of modern family life that is in some way real for all of us... While I Was Gone is a testament to the bruises that can heal when we are lucky enough to love and to be loved. Forgiveness is at the heart of this beautiful story, and although not everyone or everything is forgiven, love endures."--The Harvard Book Review. "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."--Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.. First Thus 9th Printing. Trade Paperback. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.