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Drama. Fiction. HTML:Only a few months ago, Gerry Rubato had everything he thought he needed from life. He was passionately in love with his college sweetheart after nearly twenty years of marriage, he had a bright, independent-minded daughter, and he had the surprising addition of a new child on the way. Then everything changed with stunning rapidity. With little explanation, his daughter ran away with her older boyfriend. Then, only a month after giving birth to their son, his wife died show more suddenly.Now, Gerry needs to be everything to his infant child while he contends with two losses he can barely comprehend. And when a woman walks into his life as a friend and their relationship verges on something more, Gerry must redefine all that he knows about himself, about love, about loyalty, and about his dreams.
An emotionally charged novel filled with warmth, humor, wisdom, and unforgettable characters, When You Went Away is a novel you will take to your heart. show less
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Gerry Rubato is struggling with the sudden, wholly unexpected death of his wife, raising their now four-month-old son by himself, and the aching absence of his much-loved daughter Tanya, seventeen years old, who ran away just a month before her baby brother Reese was born, and three months before her mother's death.
We meet Gerry and Reese as Gerry is returning to work, leaving his son for the entire work day for the first time since his wife Maureen's death. It's tough for him to do, but he knows it's necessary, and he hires the best baby-sitter available, and goes to work. Real life resumes for him.
Gerry works his way through the unsettling feelings of everyone worrying and treating him differently until they get used to him being show more back, and his boss's frustration and subsequent hostility when he won't leave his four-month-old son for a long weekend in order to be included--for the first time--in the company executives' annual retreat. The most unsettling experience of all, though, is developing a friendship with a woman newly added to his team.
Ally is smart, funny, attractive, and sympathetic to his loss without making him feel self-conscious. They chat, trade jokes, share ideas, and become friends. When they take the first steps toward moving their relationship outside the office though, Gerry panics. What kind of a man is he, interested in another woman just five months after his beloved wife of eighteen years has died?
He works through his panic, he and Ally move ahead, and he develops a new, stronger friendship with his late wife's sister Codie, even as he and Codie share their frustration at Codie's parents' refusal to come north and meet their new grandson. Running through the whole story is Gerry's concern for his missing daughter, who ran off with her twenty-year old boyfriend, dropped out of sight, and contacts him only by email sent through a remailer, to hide her location. Tanya doesn't know her mother is dead, because he has no way to get a message back to her. Gerry begins writing a journal, the things he wants to tell his daughter and can't.
This is a warm, sensitively told tale, written with grace and dignity. Gerry's emotions are real and human, and treated with respect. Everyone involved tries to do the right thing, which doesn't mean there is no conflict. There is plenty of conflict--the most important of which is within Gerry himself.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher. show less
We meet Gerry and Reese as Gerry is returning to work, leaving his son for the entire work day for the first time since his wife Maureen's death. It's tough for him to do, but he knows it's necessary, and he hires the best baby-sitter available, and goes to work. Real life resumes for him.
Gerry works his way through the unsettling feelings of everyone worrying and treating him differently until they get used to him being show more back, and his boss's frustration and subsequent hostility when he won't leave his four-month-old son for a long weekend in order to be included--for the first time--in the company executives' annual retreat. The most unsettling experience of all, though, is developing a friendship with a woman newly added to his team.
Ally is smart, funny, attractive, and sympathetic to his loss without making him feel self-conscious. They chat, trade jokes, share ideas, and become friends. When they take the first steps toward moving their relationship outside the office though, Gerry panics. What kind of a man is he, interested in another woman just five months after his beloved wife of eighteen years has died?
He works through his panic, he and Ally move ahead, and he develops a new, stronger friendship with his late wife's sister Codie, even as he and Codie share their frustration at Codie's parents' refusal to come north and meet their new grandson. Running through the whole story is Gerry's concern for his missing daughter, who ran off with her twenty-year old boyfriend, dropped out of sight, and contacts him only by email sent through a remailer, to hide her location. Tanya doesn't know her mother is dead, because he has no way to get a message back to her. Gerry begins writing a journal, the things he wants to tell his daughter and can't.
This is a warm, sensitively told tale, written with grace and dignity. Gerry's emotions are real and human, and treated with respect. Everyone involved tries to do the right thing, which doesn't mean there is no conflict. There is plenty of conflict--the most important of which is within Gerry himself.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher. show less
Michael Baron's When You Went Away is more than a novel about grief and fatherhood; it's a novel about being lost and the journey to find the right path.
Gerry Rubato has lost his whole world--first his daughter Tanya runs away with an older man at age 17 and then he loses his wife tragically. All he has left to center him is his infant son, Reese. The story is told from Gerry's point of view, and much of the beginning pages focuses on his grief and confusion about how to move on. Readers will be swept up in his grief, his struggle to find his way, and the dilemmas that face him when he begins to fall in love again. However, despite the focus on Gerry's grief, readers may not find When You Went Away to be a tearjerker.
"And just for a show more second -- that instant between dreaming and being awake when almost anything still seems possible -- I believed that everything else about my dream was true as well. My wife was next to me. My daughter, five or nine or seventeen, was two doors down the hall, about to protest that it was too early to go to school." (Page 3 of ARC)
Reese becomes Gerry's world for a long two months of seclusion before he heads back to work at a catalog firm. Codie, his wife's sister, becomes a sounding board for Gerry and he for her, allowing their relationship to go beyond sister-in-law and brother-in-law to confidants. The first few weeks back to work for Gerry are rough with sympathetic looks and a number of "How are you feeling?" questions from coworkers. Eventually, he finds a friend in Ally Rittan, a fellow creative mind.
"Ally slipped into the side door of my life and made herself at home without moving any of the furniture." (Page 213 of ARC)
Readers will embark upon a meditative journey with Gerry and Reese as Gerry works through the loss of his wife, the realization that love can find you at the most inopportune moments, and the harsh realities of repairing a relationship with his lost daughter. Some of the most insightful sections of the novel involve Gerry's journal conversations with his daughter Tanya; they are frank and raw.
When You Went Away is an apt title given that the narration focuses on what Gerry feels, does, and how he reacts to the absence of his daughter and his wife, but readers may also find that this novel examines what can happen to the self when tragedy strikes and the journey it takes to locate or transform that lost self. show less
Gerry Rubato has lost his whole world--first his daughter Tanya runs away with an older man at age 17 and then he loses his wife tragically. All he has left to center him is his infant son, Reese. The story is told from Gerry's point of view, and much of the beginning pages focuses on his grief and confusion about how to move on. Readers will be swept up in his grief, his struggle to find his way, and the dilemmas that face him when he begins to fall in love again. However, despite the focus on Gerry's grief, readers may not find When You Went Away to be a tearjerker.
"And just for a show more second -- that instant between dreaming and being awake when almost anything still seems possible -- I believed that everything else about my dream was true as well. My wife was next to me. My daughter, five or nine or seventeen, was two doors down the hall, about to protest that it was too early to go to school." (Page 3 of ARC)
Reese becomes Gerry's world for a long two months of seclusion before he heads back to work at a catalog firm. Codie, his wife's sister, becomes a sounding board for Gerry and he for her, allowing their relationship to go beyond sister-in-law and brother-in-law to confidants. The first few weeks back to work for Gerry are rough with sympathetic looks and a number of "How are you feeling?" questions from coworkers. Eventually, he finds a friend in Ally Rittan, a fellow creative mind.
"Ally slipped into the side door of my life and made herself at home without moving any of the furniture." (Page 213 of ARC)
Readers will embark upon a meditative journey with Gerry and Reese as Gerry works through the loss of his wife, the realization that love can find you at the most inopportune moments, and the harsh realities of repairing a relationship with his lost daughter. Some of the most insightful sections of the novel involve Gerry's journal conversations with his daughter Tanya; they are frank and raw.
When You Went Away is an apt title given that the narration focuses on what Gerry feels, does, and how he reacts to the absence of his daughter and his wife, but readers may also find that this novel examines what can happen to the self when tragedy strikes and the journey it takes to locate or transform that lost self. show less
I received this fabulous book as an unsolicited proof from the publisher. I am so pleased I did, as I wouldn’t usually choose to read something classed as romance. However, to class this book purely as a romance novel is not doing it justice. It is so much more than that.
I find it hard to believe that Michael Baron has not lived through the experiences that his character Gerry Rubato has to deal with. He has written so convincingly that it almost reads like a memoir. The emotions are so raw and honest that I could not help being gripped by Gerry’s tale. How he copes with raising his baby son on his own, coupled with searching for his runaway 16-year-old daughter, is a captivating read and one that swept me along. It’s the tale of show more a man who deeply loves his family and his friends. The loss of his wife knocks him sideways and when he meets another woman so soon after losing his wife, he finds himself confused and guilty about how this has happened. He wonders how he can be letting a new relationship start when his daughter is still missing and his wife has only be dead for a few months. We hear how he learns to be a single father, while at the same time searching for his runaway daughter. The few emails she sends him only taunt rather than help to find her. Is there a happy ending to this story? I’m certainly not telling. You’ll have to read it for yourself to find out. Trust me, you won’t be sorry. show less
I find it hard to believe that Michael Baron has not lived through the experiences that his character Gerry Rubato has to deal with. He has written so convincingly that it almost reads like a memoir. The emotions are so raw and honest that I could not help being gripped by Gerry’s tale. How he copes with raising his baby son on his own, coupled with searching for his runaway 16-year-old daughter, is a captivating read and one that swept me along. It’s the tale of show more a man who deeply loves his family and his friends. The loss of his wife knocks him sideways and when he meets another woman so soon after losing his wife, he finds himself confused and guilty about how this has happened. He wonders how he can be letting a new relationship start when his daughter is still missing and his wife has only be dead for a few months. We hear how he learns to be a single father, while at the same time searching for his runaway daughter. The few emails she sends him only taunt rather than help to find her. Is there a happy ending to this story? I’m certainly not telling. You’ll have to read it for yourself to find out. Trust me, you won’t be sorry. show less
The author of this book is variously shown as Michael Baron or Lou Aronica. I don't know if they are the same person, or if they co-wrote the book. It doesn't much matter. I downloaded it on my Kindle free over a decade ago and finally got around to reading it when travelling.
I liked the book very much. The style is that of women's fiction but the main protagonist is a man - a likeable, believable person called Gerry who was happily married until his wife suddenly died, as we learn at the start of the book. His teenager daughter disappeared shortly before, and doesn't yet know... and Gerry is left with a two-month old baby, whom he has to look after.
There's a romantic thread, one filled with poignancy as Gerry struggles to come to show more terms with what has happened. He has to make some hard decisions and find some way of moving forward, still grieving, but finding ways to put aside his feelings of guilt and depression. I thought this very difficult situation was very well handled - and if the ending is a tad too neat and tidy, it didn't worry me at all.
Recommended.
Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/09/when-you-went-away-by-michael-baron... show less
I liked the book very much. The style is that of women's fiction but the main protagonist is a man - a likeable, believable person called Gerry who was happily married until his wife suddenly died, as we learn at the start of the book. His teenager daughter disappeared shortly before, and doesn't yet know... and Gerry is left with a two-month old baby, whom he has to look after.
There's a romantic thread, one filled with poignancy as Gerry struggles to come to show more terms with what has happened. He has to make some hard decisions and find some way of moving forward, still grieving, but finding ways to put aside his feelings of guilt and depression. I thought this very difficult situation was very well handled - and if the ending is a tad too neat and tidy, it didn't worry me at all.
Recommended.
Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/09/when-you-went-away-by-michael-baron... show less
Gerry Rubato is struggling with the sudden, wholly unexpected death of his wife, raising their now four-month-old son by himself, and the aching absence of his much-loved daughter Tanya, seventeen years old, who ran away just a month before her baby brother Reese was born, and three months before her mother's death.
We meet Gerry and Reese as Gerry is returning to work, leaving his son for the entire work day for the first time since his wife Maureen's death. It's tough for him to do, but he knows it's necessary, and he hires the best baby-sitter available, and goes to work. Real life resumes for him.
Gerry works his way through the unsettling feelings of everyone worrying and treating him differently until they get used to him being show more back, and his boss's frustration and subsequent hostility when he won't leave his four-month-old son for a long weekend in order to be included--for the first time--in the company executives' annual retreat. The most unsettling experience of all, though, is developing a friendship with a woman newly added to his team.
Ally is smart, funny, attractive, and sympathetic to his loss without making him feel self-conscious. They chat, trade jokes, share ideas, and become friends. When they take the first steps toward moving their relationship outside the office though, Gerry panics. What kind of a man is he, interested in another woman just five months after his beloved wife of eighteen years has died?
He works through his panic, he and Ally move ahead, and he develops a new, stronger friendship with his late wife's sister Codie, even as he and Codie share their frustration at Codie's parents' refusal to come north and meet their new grandson. Running through the whole story is Gerry's concern for his missing daughter, who ran off with her twenty-year old boyfriend, dropped out of sight, and contacts him only by email sent through a remailer, to hide her location. Tanya doesn't know her mother is dead, because he has no way to get a message back to her. Gerry begins writing a journal, the things he wants to tell his daughter and can't.
This is a warm, sensitively told tale, written with grace and dignity. Gerry's emotions are real and human, and treated with respect. Everyone involved tries to do the right thing, which doesn't mean there is no conflict. There is plenty of conflict--the most important of which is within Gerry himself.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher. show less
We meet Gerry and Reese as Gerry is returning to work, leaving his son for the entire work day for the first time since his wife Maureen's death. It's tough for him to do, but he knows it's necessary, and he hires the best baby-sitter available, and goes to work. Real life resumes for him.
Gerry works his way through the unsettling feelings of everyone worrying and treating him differently until they get used to him being show more back, and his boss's frustration and subsequent hostility when he won't leave his four-month-old son for a long weekend in order to be included--for the first time--in the company executives' annual retreat. The most unsettling experience of all, though, is developing a friendship with a woman newly added to his team.
Ally is smart, funny, attractive, and sympathetic to his loss without making him feel self-conscious. They chat, trade jokes, share ideas, and become friends. When they take the first steps toward moving their relationship outside the office though, Gerry panics. What kind of a man is he, interested in another woman just five months after his beloved wife of eighteen years has died?
He works through his panic, he and Ally move ahead, and he develops a new, stronger friendship with his late wife's sister Codie, even as he and Codie share their frustration at Codie's parents' refusal to come north and meet their new grandson. Running through the whole story is Gerry's concern for his missing daughter, who ran off with her twenty-year old boyfriend, dropped out of sight, and contacts him only by email sent through a remailer, to hide her location. Tanya doesn't know her mother is dead, because he has no way to get a message back to her. Gerry begins writing a journal, the things he wants to tell his daughter and can't.
This is a warm, sensitively told tale, written with grace and dignity. Gerry's emotions are real and human, and treated with respect. Everyone involved tries to do the right thing, which doesn't mean there is no conflict. There is plenty of conflict--the most important of which is within Gerry himself.
Highly recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher. show less
I liked the story well enough, but felt like there was a little too much of "telling" instead of "showing". Some of the story didn't feel very real, either. The baby Reese was a major character, but I felt like he was idealized and much of the challenge of caring for a baby was missing.
When You Went Away by Michael Baron
After reading Michaels' soon to be released book and enjoying
it I got several of his other books. This one is about Gerry
who has lost his wife Maureen and he's left with his 4 month
old son Reese. Tanya he hopes will come home back to Long
Island, NY in time. The story goes back to happier times
with the family and then up to date where he's just hired
Lisa to take care of the baby so he can return to work.
He spends his whole day with his son, watching him laugh, as
he walks around the house with him pointing everything out,
especially the pictures of his mother and sister. As time
goes on we do learn why the daughter has run away with 2
years of high school being a straight A student,... It was
a show more surprise to him also when Maureen told him she was pregnant.
He is back to work and others in the family's life stop in
to lend support and bring him up to date with their latest
news. Love how the talks to his son about the Yankees play
by play action in preseason games. His sister in law Codie
has heard from Tanya and they confide in one another. The
journal Maureen had given him one year was going to be put
to good use...like how he uses it to move on with his life
at the same time recording his thoughts and feelings about
how his daughter had changed their lives. He intellectually
connects with a lady in his office where her job for the
Christmas catalog is to pitch ideas at him and they discuss
why they might work or might not. He's agreed to have dinner
with her and this will be the first time since he lost his
wife. Love how everything is brought full circle by the end
of the book, didn't see it coming... Because there are only
a few main characters you can get to know them very well.
There are others that come into play and they are both good
listeners and sometimes like to be listened to as well.
Love the honesty, deepness of the topics discussed and the
loving nature he has for all that he comes into contact with. show less
After reading Michaels' soon to be released book and enjoying
it I got several of his other books. This one is about Gerry
who has lost his wife Maureen and he's left with his 4 month
old son Reese. Tanya he hopes will come home back to Long
Island, NY in time. The story goes back to happier times
with the family and then up to date where he's just hired
Lisa to take care of the baby so he can return to work.
He spends his whole day with his son, watching him laugh, as
he walks around the house with him pointing everything out,
especially the pictures of his mother and sister. As time
goes on we do learn why the daughter has run away with 2
years of high school being a straight A student,... It was
a show more surprise to him also when Maureen told him she was pregnant.
He is back to work and others in the family's life stop in
to lend support and bring him up to date with their latest
news. Love how the talks to his son about the Yankees play
by play action in preseason games. His sister in law Codie
has heard from Tanya and they confide in one another. The
journal Maureen had given him one year was going to be put
to good use...like how he uses it to move on with his life
at the same time recording his thoughts and feelings about
how his daughter had changed their lives. He intellectually
connects with a lady in his office where her job for the
Christmas catalog is to pitch ideas at him and they discuss
why they might work or might not. He's agreed to have dinner
with her and this will be the first time since he lost his
wife. Love how everything is brought full circle by the end
of the book, didn't see it coming... Because there are only
a few main characters you can get to know them very well.
There are others that come into play and they are both good
listeners and sometimes like to be listened to as well.
Love the honesty, deepness of the topics discussed and the
loving nature he has for all that he comes into contact with. show less
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7 Works 481 Members
Series
Common Knowledge
- Dedication
- To M, who never, ever went away.
I'm so thankful that Tanya is purely a product of my imagination. - First words
- I dreamt of us in springtime.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Under the circumstances, I think Maureen would have approved.
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