Chapter 1 Summary

While I Was Gone tells the story of Jo Becker, a wife, mother, and successful New England professional, who discovers that the nearly forgotten past can return and drastically affect the present. The action begins as Jo and her husband enjoy a day off together.

The narrator and her husband are in a rowboat on a lake. Her husband asks if she is in pain. The narrator suffers from hip problems. Daniel, the husband, decides to return to shore. Daniel is a preacher, and the couple lives in Adams Mills, a small community in Massachusetts. They live in a farmhouse and use the barn as a garage.

Once the couple arrives home, dogs greet them. The narrator is a veterinarian. While Daniel cleans the fish at the kitchen sink, he listens to the telephone messages. Afterward he goes to his office in the...