Gone So Long

Written by Andre Dubus III

Narrated by Andre Dubus III

Andre Dubus III's first novel in a decade is a masterpiece of thrilling tension and heartrending empathy. Few writers can enter their characters so completely or evoke their lives as viscerally as Andre Dubus III. In this deeply compelling new novel, a father, estranged for the worst of reasons, is driven to seek out the daughter he has not seen in decades. Daniel Ahearn lives a quiet, solitary existence in a seaside New England town. Forty years ago, following a shocking act of impulsive violence on his part, his daughter, Susan, was ripped from his arms by police. Now in her forties, Susan still suffers from the trauma of a night she doesn't remember, as she struggles to feel settled, to love a man and create something that lasts. Lois, her maternal grandmother who raised her, tries to find peace in her antique shop in a quaint Florida town but cannot escape her own anger, bitterness, and fear. Cathartic, affirming, and steeped in the empathy and precise observations of character for which Dubus is celebrated, Gone So Long explores how the wounds of the past afflict the people we become, and probes the limits of recovery and absolution.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9781980015697

Andre Dubus III

Andre Dubus III is the author of House of Sand and Fog (an Oprah’s Book Club selection and finalist for the National Book Award), Bluesman, and The Cage Keeper and Other Stories. He lives with his family north of Boston.

Reviews for Gone So Long

[Jordan Paree · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was floored. It’s not going to be for everyone, but I highly recommend it for those looking for a book that plays in the grey.

[tobinelliott · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book.

Goddamn.

Andre Dubus III is easily one of my favourite authors of all time. When you read his novels, you realize that most authors give you characters that are skin packed with sawdust. Dubus gives you living, breathing, tear-your-heart-out, honest to God people.

There's not a lot that happens in these 457 pages, but virtually every single sentence just sings. There are no heroes here.

Each of the main characters—Danny, Susan, Lois, and even, to a point, Susan's mother, Linda—all struggle with decisions each has made in the past, and how those actions ripple down through the years and continue to smack them around.

I don't want to say much more than this, as this is a novel that must be experienced.

I normally punch through a novel in three or four days, but this one...this couldn't be guzzled. I had to sip from its dark heart. I didn't want to leave these broken characters and I'm saddened that their story had ended for me.

Easily the best novel I'll read this year.

This book.

Goddamn.

[jldarden · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this. Although it is generally slow moving and a little depressing, this type of family character study appeals to me. The characters are believable and relatable. I recommend it and like the author.

[froxgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If a mashup of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" and Joni Mitchell's "That Song About The Midway" in fiction format sounds intriguing to you, check out this novel. It takes place on the honkytonk strip at Salisbury Beach, MA, where an obsessed, jealous young father murders his wife, and their three year old daughter is snatched up by her grieving grandmother and transplanted to the West Coast of Florida. The story is told by Daniel, who served fifteen years in prison and has led a solitary yet productive life on the outside; grandmother Lois, who raises Susan and has never recovered from the loss of her own daughter Linda; and Susan. Susan's life has been a very conflicted, difficult trek as she seeks comfort in books and in men, especially after she learns the truth about her parents at age twelve. Tension ratchets up when Daniel, dying of cancer, drives to Florida to see Susan for the first time since she was three.Dubus has always been a masterful writer, especially at his depictions of inner turmoil. Here, he takes too long and wanders too many pathways of minor import, but this is a memorable tale of people we all see every day and will never know unless writers share their inharmonious lives with us.Quotes: “She could hear Linda’s voice, high but with an edge, cotton candy with a rusty nail in it.”“Living with a man is a job. You go to work whether you feel like it or not.”“Everyone’s heart was so close to the skin, yet also dark and infinite and a million miles away.”“It was like he was appraising her and considered her of very high value but was not yet sure of how to incorporate her into his holdings.”“Her throat was a thick mass of far too much to say.”

[refice_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was disappointed by Gone So Long. It is depressing with few likable characters and lacks that come-to-Jesus moment that looms throughout the book.The story follows the lives of Susan, who, at three years old, witnessed her mother’s murder at the hand of her father; Danny (Daniel), the murderous father; and Lois, the murdered girl’s mother, who raised Susan. None seem to have many redeeming qualities. Susan’s victimhood is explainable but I’m not sure it is completely defensible. Lois is portrayed as hate filled, and while her hatred is understandable her invective is oppressive. Daniel, the murderer, seems to be the most well-adjusted of the three, but he disparages himself so completely that at times I just wanted to roll my eyes.As far as the writing goes, Dubus’s story-within-a-story technique, told through Susan’s novel and Danny’s letter, was ineffective for me. Nor does the story unfold cohesively. It’s one of those time shifting novels where sometimes it’s 40 years ago, sometimes 20, and sometimes present day. The ending, for me, was unsatisfying, although a saccharin ending wouldn’t have fit very well on this depressing novel, so I give Dubus and pass for that.I liked House of Sand and Fog, but not this one.

[samsattler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Character-driven novel about a family destroyed from the inside and how it took them forty years finally to come to some kind of understanding about what had happened to them.Few authors develop characters like Andre Dubus III, and I felt like I intimately knew each of the main "Gone So Long" characters by the time I reached the novel's last page. I will admit that this one can take a little patience because sometimes so little seems to be happening to move the book toward its climax, but it is well worth the effort. It's a novel that readers will have no problem remembering - unlike way too many others out there.

[pdebolt_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Daniel Ahearn is a convicted murderer. When he was incarcerated, his only child, three-year old, Susan, was put into the custody of her maternal grandmother, Lois, who carries a deep hatred for Daniel. Daniel served 15 years, and 25 years after his release, he desperately wants to reconnect with the now 43-year old Susan after finding where she lives. He writes a long, rambling letter admitting to all the mistakes he has made in his life, and relates that he is en route to see her. Poignant and painful memories abound during his journey from New England to Florida while his physical health declines.We've waited 10 long years for a book to follow Dubus' memorable novel, The House of Sand and Fog. As with that book, this one is rich in characterization and empathy. The histories of Daniel, Susan and Lois are detailed, and underscore their motives for their life-long decisions. Redemption and forgiveness run through the narratives, which switch from first to third person. I do hope we don't have to wait another 10 years for a novel from this talented, insightful author.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Redemption and forgiveness. Shoukd one spend the rest of their lives atoning for a horrific act, a moment of madness, a moment that is unlikely it ever occur again? My emotions were all over the place while reading this book. The words, the insights were just so real. Well, real to me, though I admit I never was in this particular situation. Thankfully. A daughter left behind, a mother in law, who raises the daughter. Over protective, not wanting to make again what she sees as mistakes.By books end, we know these three people, inside out. Their mistakes, their wantings, their wishes. How this act of violence affected each of them. Runs the emotional gsmbit. We feel the authors empathy, I felt it too. I loved the beginning of the book, was immediately drawn in, but felt the middle stalled a bit. This was a long book, I felt some of it could have been shortened. The last part, truly excellent. Heartfelt, very realistic, I could feel their pain, their regrets, their determination to at last move forward. Ten long years since his last published fiction, I hope it won't be as long again. He is a true talent, knows people as portrays them as real.ARC from Edelweiss.