While I Was Gone by Sue Miller tells of the story of Jo Becker, a veterinarian in Adams Mills, Massachusetts, who has an ideal life with her three daughters and husband. Jo has a complicated past that resurfaces when she has a chance encounter with an old acquaintance named Eli. Her feelings for Eli become complicated as they increasingly spend time together and he confesses to murdering her best friend Dana. Jo must decide how to keep her picture-perfect life and deal with her troubled past.