Sue Miller - While I Was Gone

68. While I Was Gone by Sue Miller (1999)
Length: 283 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 13 August 2012
Finished: 15 August 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 June 2009
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and Sue Miller is a new author for me.

The seven college students came from all different walks of life. Jo, Eli, Dana, Duncan, Sara, John, and Larry may have met completely by chance, but their differences were what initially bonded them together in friendship. They did almost everything together - and were extremely close with each other - until a brutal crime tore everyone apart and the friends went their separate ways.

Jo Becker's life honestly couldn't get any better. She lives a comfortable life with her own successful veterinary practice; doing something that gives her an enormous sense of satisfaction and purpose. She has been happily married to her minister husband Daniel for almost thirty years, and the couple has three vivacious daughters. This loving family lives in a beautiful house somewhere in a tiny, picturesque town in suburban Massachusetts.

Despite living such a perfect life, Jo nevertheless finds herself strangely dissatisfied with her current situation. Her mind is periodically invaded by instances of persistent restlessness and she feels somewhat disconnected from her own life at times. The strange feeling of restlessness intensifies when Jo takes on a new client who brings her into contact with someone from her past. Eli Mayhew was an attractive, mysterious, twenty-something when Jo first knew him; and his sudden reappearance in her life brings back Jo's own long-buried memories of her troubled former life.

Her subsequent fascination with that particular period of her life, as well as with the horrific crime that marked its inevitable conclusion will begin to consume more and more of Jo's time and attention. Although her avid determination to solve the crime that so utterly devastated her past could ultimately define her future; Jo's obsession with discovering the truth about what happened in the past will eventually estrange her from everything she holds dear in the present. As she and Eli are drawn closer together again, Jo will be forced to tell lie after lie to protect herself and her family from this mysterious man...and from the repercussions of a horrible secret deeply buried somewhere in the past - somewhere within another lifetime.

I must say that I absolutely loved this book. The story was so well-written and intriguing for me to read. I appreciated that it flowed along so easily; in my opinion, it was was well-paced and held my interest all the way through. Although Sue Miller is a relatively new author for me, I am delighted to say that I have several other books by this author sitting on my bookshelf already.

I was just telling Mareena how much I was enjoying reading this book and how I thought that it would make such a good movie. She did a little bit of research, and told me that there had been a television movie made of the book back in 2004. Apparently, the movie starred Kirstie Alley and Bill Smitrovich. Despite never having seen the film adaptation of this book, I would nevertheless give While I Was Gone by Sue Miller a definite A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight