Any mother who has ever ever been frustrated by the lack of equal parenting and understanding they get from the newborn's father will enjoy this read. Its not deep, its filled with #firstworldproblems and #whitepriviledge. But its an amusing book you can finish in less than 24 hours on the right plane or beach! ( )

When Veronica Reed wakes up one frigid January morning, two things are "off"-first of all, she has had a good night's sleep, which hasn't happened in months, and second, both her husband and her baby are gone. Grateful for the much-needed rest, Veronica doesn't, at first, seriously question her husband's trip out to breakfast with baby Clara. Little does she know, her spouse has fled lower Manhattan, with Clara, for some R&R in the Caribbean.
Told through alternating points of view, The Sunshine When She's Gone explores the life-changing impact of parenthood on a couple as individuals and as partners. Thea Goodman brings us into intimacies made tense by sleep-deprivation and to losses and gains made more real by acknowledging them. Here is the story of a couple pushed to the edge and a desperate father's attempt give them both space to breathe. ( )

Good choice for young couples with first child. Has it all - alcohol, drugs, sex . . . but just a smattering of each to outline the changes in couples and their lives designated by the "before" and "after" of first child.
Bit goofy premise - Dad goes out for breakfast with 6 mo. old - diner is closed - ends up at airport and then in Barbados. Sure!?! However, Mom is dealing with her own issues and manages not to end up in total panic mode - thus the unfolding of the revelations of a weekend.
I liked the book, especially since it was quick and easy reading and interesting enough to keep those pages turning. ( )

A quick read, but that's about the only thing I enjoyed about this book. Hated the whiny, self-absorbsed main characters, hated the farfeteched plot. Don't waste your time. ( )

Having a baby has divided the lives of John and Veronica into before and after in The Sunshine When She’s Gone, a first novel by short story writer Thea Goodman. Six months after the difficult birth, baby Clara still hasn’t slept through the night. Exhausted, John and Veronica go to work, care for the baby, and count up hours of sleep they got or didn’t get.
At the start of the story, which takes place over the course of one weekend, John spent a sleepless Thursday night waiting for the baby to cry out, realizing with amazement, early next morning, that she hadn’t woken up. Impulsively, John decides to take the baby for breakfast down the street from their Soho apartment. When he finds his favorite diner closed, John (with Clara, still sleeping, nestled into the baby carrier on his chest) even more impulsively grabs a cab and tries to decide where he could spend some time with the baby. Rejecting the few usual options, John has a sudden, strong urge to take the baby on a trip out of a New York City winter to the sunshine of the Caribbean island where Veronica grew up going on vacation with her family. A wild adventure – playing hooky from a job he hates and spending time with his infant daughter whom he loves – and it will give Veronica a break.
As the weekend progresses, the book switches back and forth so readers know what John is doing and then what Veronica does in the same time period, believing he and the baby are at his mother’s although she has been unable to reach him by phone. In this time outside of their usual experience, each of them goes through wild mood swings, from calm reflection to intense anxiety, and comes to new realizations about love, marriage, and parenthood.
If you like New York stories, books about couples breaking out of their normal, relatively privileged lives, or if you like novels about adjusting to life with a new baby, you should enjoy The Sunshine When She’s Gone. I did.
Read complete review at Bay State Reader's Advisory blog. ( )