Amazon.com
Oprah Book Club® Selection, May 2000: In her still startling debut, The Good Mother, Sue Miller explored the premium we put on passion--and the terrible burden it places on a mother and child. Her fourth novel, While I Was Gone, 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. While I Was Gone also demonstrates that in the face of distance and betrayal, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing indeed. --Winnie Wheaton
Book Description
"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." --CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN-HAUPT The New York Times
"MILLER WEAVES HER THEMES OF SECRECY, BETRAYAL AND FORGIVENESS INTO A NARRATIVE THAT SHINES." --Time "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 "MARVELOUS . . . POIGNANT . . . POWERFUL." --Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer
"A BEAUTIFUL AND FRIGHTENING BOOK . . . MANY READERS WILL FIND IT DIFFICULT TO FORGET. . . . It swoops gracefully between the past and the present, between a woman's complex feelings about her husband and her equally complex fantasies--and fears--about another man. . . . I can think of few contemporary novelists--John Updike and Frederick Buechner are two others--who write so well about the trials of faith." --The New York Times Book Review "QUIETLY GRIPPING . . . Jo shines steadily as the flawed and thoroughly modern heroine. As in her 1986 novel, The Good Mother, Miller shows how impulses can fracture the family." --USA Today
Customer Reviews:
Can't understand the hype.......2007-08-04
I absolutely hated this book. Jo is just a selfish pig. She runs away from her husband and family and doesn't even extend them the common courtesy you would give a stranger. Then all is forgotten and forgiven because she married a minister and became a vet?? Yeah, sure, until she reverts to type and is again ready to deceive her family. What a waste of time -- I only finished the book because I wanted to know where this sorry tale was heading.
Intriguing.......2007-07-17
Although feeling slightly odd and lonely since the last of her three daughters left home, Jo Becker has to admit she's got a great life. Her husband is loving and supportive, they have a wonderful old New England home, and she's a successful veterinarian with her own practice.
Before this settled, familiar life, however, Jo had another identity. For nearly a year, she was Licia Stead, a waitress living in a communal house in Cambridge. On the run from an unhappy marriage, Jo felt she'd finally found her true self in the rundown old house, filled with the gaiety and noise of her eclectic housemates.
One horrible evening, Jo comes home from work to find the bloody body of Dana, her housemate and friend, brutally murdered just minutes before. Anguished and horrified, she and the others are forced to undergo police interrogation and general disapproval from the community as a whole for their unstructured lifestyle. Ultimately, the killer is never found, and Dana's death marks the end of an era. The remaining housemates each find reasons to leave, and the group disbands.
Fast forward 25 years later, when Eli Mayhew brings his dog to Jo's veterinary practice. Seeing him forces Jo to remember Dana and the life they once had. She also begins to have feelings for Eli, though they're both married to other people.
Then Jo discovers that Eli may know more about the circumstances around Dana's death than he's ever let on...
In this book, Miller's fine writing is able to convey both the image of an average small-town New England existence, as well as the hints of something darker just beneath the surface.
Good, not great.......2007-06-25
This was a good book- not my favorite, but kept my interest. The characters never seemed real to me nor did the their actions.
Not a waste of my time, but a bit disappointing.
Is it running away?.......2007-06-19
Daniel, a pastor, is happy. His wife Jo, a veterinarian, is the narrator. The couple has three daughters, Sadie and the twins, Cass and Nora. Jo learns that Eli Mayhew, a fellow commune-dweller from long ago, is living in their town.
The story flashes back to the commune where Jo used a fictitious name. Eli had been the only serious one there, a scientist. Crime visited the commune, interrupting youthful activities, youthful development. Eli's return marks for Jo a time of surging memories of the tragedy at the commune. Daniel is surprised at Jo's reaction. He is consumed with his own pastoral duties centering on the death of one of his parishioners.
After a family Thanksgiving and a party given afterwards to ease familial tension, Jo realizes she has been collecting a bagful of petty grievances against Daniel. When Daniel and Jo go out to dinner with Jean and Eli Mayhew, Jo sees that Daniel doesn't care for Eli. Daniel talks about soul and Eli about neurons. Daniel explains to Eli that there has to be a desire for God to become a believer. Eli thinks that Daniel won't accept the implications of science in his thinking.
In the plot turns here there are a number of surprises for the reader. In the end the most important area covered by Sue Miller in this novel is the difficulty everyone has of accepting and being responsible for all of the deeds and misdeeds of former selves. Events in this novel verge on the garish, but it is possible that like circumstances haunt the background of everybody.
Miller writes easily and smoothly. It is no wonder that her novels are so popular.
Betrayal.......2007-06-09
In While I was Gone, Sue Miller takes us deeply inside a marriage. We always are surprised when people get divorced because marriages look different from the outside than the inside. Sometimes pretty on the outside, ugly inside. With this one between a vet and a minister we go inside the very fabric. We enter the bedroom. We enter the bed, the life of the mind, the life of the body, the life of the soul, the life of the parents, and when the fraying begins, we feel it acutely, a grind against our own gears. We feel the unravelling acutely. We are never the same. Kate Gale
Average customer rating:
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While I Was Gone
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ID2RIC |
Average customer rating:
- An engaging, if disturbing read
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While I Was Gone
Miller Sue
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 074754364X |
Customer Reviews:
An engaging, if disturbing read.......2007-05-25
While I was Gone, by Sue Miller
What is it that makes a book good or bad? How do we decide if we like it, and whether to recommend it? It depends, of course, in part, on what we were looking for. On whether the book resonates, whether it engages us. Whether it changes us in some way, makes us think or feel. Every book is different, and even the same book is different which each rereading, and over time, as our experiences and outlooks change.
Last night I told my partner that the book I was currently reading, While I was Gone, by Sue Miller, disturbed me.
I had purchased the book because, in part, I had met the author when she spoke at my college. (This was not that long ago; I was an "adult" student.)
The book disturbed me because it seemed that Jo Becker, who loved her husband and was happy in her life was about to begin an affair. I was terrified by this because I do not want my own marriage to blemished by infidelity, and it seems so casual, so easy, and the wounds so deep. My partner suggested I put the book down and "stop reading fiction." I did not and will not. But I was uncomfortable and unhappy while reading the book. Scared for the protagonists, scared for my partner and myself. The fear came from inside me. And yet, Sue Miller manufactured that fear. She shaped it. She related it to a universal fear. With her book, she disturbed me.
The back-story was familiar to me: life in a group home, a sort of commune, during the sixties. Things went terribly wrong. I enjoyed reading about life in the group home because it brought back memories of my younger days. The intensity, the idealism. And the story was compelling. Spellbinding. I didn't like the things that wrong, but I was involved. I didn't want to leave it to do the necessary things in my life. (Now there's a good reason not to read fiction!)
I don't want to give away the ending. I hate it when reviewers do that. I liked the book. It was "good." It engaged me, it resonated for me, it terrified me. Would I recommend it? Not for light reading. Not for escapism. Not for the pat kind of happy ending. But for an engaging read, yes. I would. I would definitely recommend it.
Product Description
3 Book Set By Sue Miller; Lost in the Forest; While I Was Gone; Family Pictures.
Average customer rating:
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While I Was Gone
Sue Miller
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NY1H1O |
Average customer rating:
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While I Was Gone
Sue Miller
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0747584656 |
Average customer rating:
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While I Was Gone
Sue Miller
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0747584613 |
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While I Was Gone
Sue Miller
Manufacturer: Alfred a Knopf Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NY7W18 |
Average customer rating:
- Oops!
- I love this series!
- A Hundred Year Old Mystery
- Digging up a family tree
- Emma Lord Keeps On Going!
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Alpine Escape (Emma Lord Mysteries)
Mary Daheim
Manufacturer: Fawcett
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Series | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Daheim, Mary | ( D ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Daheim, Mary | ( D ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Series | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:
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Alpine Decoy (Emma Lord Mysteries)
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Alpine Fury (Emma Lord Mysteries)
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Alpine Gamble (Emma Lord Mysteries)
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Alpine Betrayal (Emma Lord Mysteries)
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Alpine Hero (Emma Lord Mysteries)
ASIN: 0345388429
Release Date: 1995-03-01 |
Book Description
THE EDITOR OF THE ALPINE ADVOCATE GOES DIGGING FOR A MURDERER.
At forty-two, newspaperwoman Emma Lord decides she needs time off to do
some soul-searching. But her old Jag breaks down in the picturesque Pacific
Northwest town of Port Angeles, and instead of finding herself, she ,s helping
friends find the truth about a grisly discovery: a skeleton in their basement.
The bones belong to those of an unknown young woman, buried in a
crumbling mansion nearly a century ago. A crushed skull, a garnet earring, a
locket containing a telltale keepsake *all whisper of tragedy. Ancient
photographs reveal more. But Emma has to fish in dark and dangerous
waters to get the whole story of a wealthy, ruthless family, a story that
twists and turns to a shocking conclusion that should never be told....
Customer Reviews:
Oops!.......2007-08-14
What a muddle! How disappointing! But if you are into this series, you need to wade through this since an on-going character makes his first appearance. Please see further at "Alpine Icon."
I love this series!.......2004-12-20
The plot is a real departure from the rest of the books in the series so far, and it was great fun. Yes, some of the premises did seem a bit contrived. Did i mind? Not at all! In fact, I began to look forward to the next "disaster" and quirky plot turn, none of which were overdone. (I really got to like Paul and Jackie, and even Leo.) Daheim uses her considerable skill to weave together a good and unusual mystery story. She's a keen observer of human behavior and has a real knack for good dialogue and coherent, complex characters who grow. I'm reading this series from beginning to end!
A Hundred Year Old Mystery.......2004-05-02
Emma Lord, forty-two year old owner and publisher of the Alpine Advocate decides to take a short vacation after a convention. Her son, Adam is spending the summer with her brother Ben in Arizona, so there's no need to hurry home.
Driving along in her trusty Jaguar, she doesn't have a care in the world, until it breaks down in Port Angeles.
Fortunately, Jackie & Paul Melcher live in Port Angeles. Jackie is the daughter of an old friend of Emma's and she calls her up hoping to kill a few hours. Thinking that's all the time it will take to repair the car.
Jackie is excited to hear from Emma and invites her over. She's especially thrilled to be able to tell Emma about the skelaton they just found in the basement.
The body of a young woman with a crushed skull and some jewlery laying around her was found while renovations were being done. The house, which had been left by Paul's uncle, was the old family home that went back to the turn of the century. (20th)
Who is she, why was she murdered and how was she hidden in the basement and why wasn't she ever missed?
Emma puts on her reporters hat and starts digging for information. Paul has the history of his family as was told to him, and old newspapers and even older senior citizens fill in much of the blanks.
There were three women who could be the victim.
Simone Rowley, the French second wife of Cornelius Rowley the owner of the house, who was said to have run off with a French lover after her husband died.
Carrie Malone - daughter of Cornelius, who had unknowingly married a bigamist, Jimmy Malone and was said to have gone to Seattle to live with him.
Minnie Burke - the governess who just dropped out of sight.
Paul wants to know because if it turns out to be a member of his family, he wants to have a propery funeral.
Emma finds it a good way to kill time while her 1 day car repairs turns into several days of car repairs.
Meanwhile Vida keeps her updated over the phone as to what's happening at the paper. Including the fact that Carla, can't spell any better than she can report, and that Darla Puckett is most upset about the misspelling of her name in a story.
Ed, the advertising manager has just inherited money from his aunt who considered him to the sunniest and happiest person in her family?
I really enjoyed this story. I liked the way Emma discovered information about things that had occurred almost 100 years ago. She used the skills she had honed from her years of journalism. The conclusion made absolute sense.
Only downside. Not enough involvement of the Alpine characters. I missed Milo, who only appears in a couple of phone conversations.
Next book - Alpine Fury. This series is going too fast.
Digging up a family tree.......2001-12-12
Emma Lord decides she needs a break from her routine and climbs into her trusty Jaguar to take a road trip. The problem is that her Jag is not so trusty and it breaks down partway through her trip. Emma has problems getting it fixed, so she calls the daughter of a friend of hers. The daughter invites Emma to spend the night and confides that she and her husband have just moved into an old family home where they have found a skeleton in the basement. Emma then joins them in their search for answers as to who the skeleton was and how it got in their basement. Many of the premises of this book seemed very contrived to me. Supposedly Emma barely knew her hostess and yet she imposed on her for several days. Also I wondered why the threesome would go to such great lengths to uncover the identity of the skeleton. Also, all of their theories were pretty much only theories, since they could prove none of them.
Of course our intrepid heroine comes up with the solution almost by accident. This was an interesting book, but not as well conceived as some of the others in the series.
Emma Lord Keeps On Going!.......2000-06-17
Wow! This is the fifth book in the series, and the books are still exciting! Mary Daheim writes light murder mysteries that are both intriguing and hard to put down. If you like a good challenge, pick up one of these books and try to figure out "whodunit!" This whole series is so exciting because Mary Daheim continually lets all of her characters grow and she introduces new characters with each book! I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
Product Description
The editor and publisher Emma Lord is duty-bound in a small town in the foothills of Wahington's Cascade Mountains
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The Alpine Escape
Mary Daheim
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVPEME |
Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Description:
A total of 128 invasive plant species have been recorded in treeless vegetation in the Australian Alps. Most of these are forbs and most are uncommon. Cover of invasive species is generally minimal unless there has been gross disturbance to natural vegetation and soils. Although there is a significantly positive correlation between invasive and native species diversity, suggesting that conditions that allow numerous native species to co-exist also permit more plant invasions, altitude is the most important determinant of invasive species diversity. Only 22 of the 128 species have been recorded above 1800m. Some plant communities (e.g. those with high pH or relatively nutrient-rich soils), however, seem to be vulnerable to invasions regardless of altitude. Most invasive species appear to have been introduced unintentionally (e.g. as seed attached to vehicles, animals and humans) but a few were introduced to assist with revegetation of disturbed soils and for amenity plantings in ski resorts, and have subsequently established in native vegetation. Treeless communities in the Australian Alps are likely to face increasing pressure from invasive species as a result of global warming and continued introduction of non-native plants to ski resort gardens. Whilst it may be difficult to prevent invasive species of low elevations migrating to higher elevations as temperatures rise, the risk of invasion from garden plants could be minimised through regulation. Non-native plants in ski resort gardens pose a far greater risk than most invasive species currently present in the Alps because they have been chosen for their capacity to survive at high altitudes.
Product Description
5 massmarket paperback Titles in Emma Lord Series - The Alpine Advocate - Alpine Betrayal - Alpine Decoy - Alpine Escape - Alpine Fury
Average customer rating:
- Highly enjoyed and highly recommended
- Not one of CrossGen's best
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The Path: Crisis of Faith (The Path Traveler)
Ron Marz , and
Bart Sears
Manufacturer: Cross Generation Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Comic Strips
| Comics & Graphic Novels
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General
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General
| Graphic Novels
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Blood on Snow (The Path, Book 2)
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The Path v. 1: Blood & Steel
ASIN: 1593140169 |
Customer Reviews:
Highly enjoyed and highly recommended.......2006-12-11
When Mitsumume, the Emperor of Nayado, decides to attack the empire of Shinacea, he sets into motion a sequence of events that will turn the entire world. The attack in unsuccessful, and Shinacea in turn launches its own attack, threatening to overthrown the Throne of Petals. And when the gods themselves intervene, in a whole capricious and unmerciful manner, the monk Obo-san takes up their most powerful weapon and declares war upon them himself. This is the story of one monk, and a crisis of faith that sets the world to trembling.
Overall, I really loved this book. The story is fascinating, and the artwork is simply breathtaking. Admittedly, it is true that the double-page spread sometimes makes the story somewhat hard to follow. But, I didn't really find that too much of a problem. My biggest complaint is that this book is just part one in a multi-book story, so now I must go out and get more books, if I want to see what happens next.
But, that said, this is a very good book, one that I highly enjoyed, and highly recommend.
Not one of CrossGen's best.......2003-08-01
As big a fan as I am of CrossGen comics in general, "The Path" is not really a book for me. I've never been the biggest fan of Bart Sears' artwork, and at times it becomes quite difficult to tell the characters apart. The pacing is a bit slow, which usually doesn't bother me, but doesn't suit this book as much as it wants to.
The big problem with this collection, though, is that "The Path" is done entirely in double-page spreads. Instead of reading each left-hand page then each right-hand page, like in most comics, the two pages combine. This is fine in a magazine style comic book, but when the pages are reproduced into a paperback edition like this, the middle of each image get trapped in the crease and makes it difficult to read.
It's not a bad book, and it deservedly has its fans. I'm just not one of them.
Book Description
Women who undergo surgery for breast cancer may end up with lymphedema, a painful, visible swelling, usually of the arm. Coming to their aid, Lymphedema lays out the many options for preventing and treating the condition. The book provides information on reducing lymphedema through professional therapy as well as exercise and self-massage, plus helpful illustrations and additional resources. It also tells encouraging stories of women who have dealt with lymphedema successfully. With updates throughout on the latest research, products, and techniques, this new edition features expanded nutrition and exercise sections and covers naturopathy, acupuncture, and Chinese herbal medicine, as well as potential future therapies being tested.
Customer Reviews:
Great Stuff.......2001-06-27
My wife and I found lots of great help in this book. Detailed enough for our academic minds. Honest enough to be helpful in a difficult time. And staightforward enough to be understandable. We showed it to our therapist who liked it enough to include it in her list of resources for others with lymphedema. We highly recommend it.
Finding Help.......2000-11-12
I found this book very informative and comforting. It not only tells about lymphedema, about why it starts and what can be done about it, but the book has the stories of other women with lymphedema and shows what they are doing for their condition. It helped make me aware that I am not the only person to have had problems after I was treated for breast cancer. Since my therapy for lymphedema I have used this book to maintain my arm's shape. I think the book is a wonderful guide. It was a real relief for me to find this book.
Book Helps Person in Small Town.......2000-05-28
I have had lymphedema for several years. I live outside a very small town which does not have a person who knows how to treat lymphedema. I found this book on Amazon.com and it gave me information that helped find a therpist in another city.
I must travel nearly two hundred miles to reach my therapist, but with her help and with the information in this book, the swelling has gone down and my arm is almost back to normal. In another couple of weeks I should not need to see the therapist any longer. Because of the detailed information in this book, and because of the therapist's instructions I know how to bandage my arm, what kind of sleeve to wear on it, exercises I should and should not do, even what kind of breathing helps my arm not swell.
I don't know what I would have done if this book had not been available. I wish it had been written years ago when my swelling began. I recommend it very highly.
Book aids with treatment.......2000-05-03
I found this book incredibly helpful. After two years of having my arm so swollen it would not fit into many of my clothes, I found this book. It showed what exercises to do, how to do self-massage, how to bandage, and where to get help. It is complete with pictures that illustrate each step. I think this book is essential for anyone who's had treatment for breast cancer.
A disappointing rehash.......2000-04-27
This book might be helpful as a starting point for someone who knows nothing about lymphedema. It read like a tired retread of the information the American Cancer Society dispenses for free. Since I experience a direct correlation between protein intake and arm swelling, I was hoping the authors would go into far greater diet detail than their short chapter on nutritional supplements. Save your money -- there is nothing new here.
Books:
- Witches Abroad
- Woman Hollering Creek: And Other Stories
- You Shall Know Our Velocity
- A Dangerous Fortune
- A Girl of the Limberlost (The Library of Indiana Classics)
- Anybody Out There?: A Novel
- Appointment in Samarra: A Novel
- As a Driven Leaf
- At The Stroke Of Madness (Mira)
- Aunt Dimity's Death (Aunt Dimity Mystery)
Books Index
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A Virtuous Woman (Oprah's Book Club)
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![Plant invasions in treeless vegetation of the Australian Alps [An article from: Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21SD3W7W6DL.jpg)
