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There are currently 16 member reviews
for Three Days in June
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Susan R. (Greensboro, NC)
Fantastic
If you are a fan of Anne Tyler, you're going to love this book and it may become your favorite of her books like it did mine. If you haven't read Anne Tyler before, you need to read this. You'll find out how wonderful her storytelling is with wonderful and insightful looks at people - both the good and the flaws.
Gail Baines is having a rough day. Her normal quiet life is imploding. She works at a private school and believed that she would get the job as head of the school when the current one left. When she's informed that she was passed over due to being socially awkward, she leaves her job and goes home. Another problem is that her only daughter is getting married in three days and she hasn't been invited to the spa day with the bridesmaids and the mother of the groom. On top of all that, her ex-husband shows up from out of town with no where to stay plus he has a cat with him that he is trying to get adopted. To say that her placid life has changed to one of confusion and anxiety is putting it mildly. Then things get even worse - her daughter shares a secret with her parents about the groom and insists that she is going to cancel the wedding. Gayle wants to be helpful to her daughter but not intrusive and she agonizes over her daughter's decision as she compares it to her personal reasons for the end of her marriage.
Gail's real decision comes down to what to do with the rest of her life. She's 60 - is it too late to change her career and her life in general?
Gail is a fantastic main character -- quirky, a bit or a worrier - well maybe more than a bit - and a person who likes her life to be calm and planned. Her ex husband is just the opposite - very spontaneous and free. Some of their conversations made me smile and other times I felt like they were being very insightful. This was a fantastic new book by a Pulitzer Prize winner and you don't want to miss it.
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Susan L. (Alexandria, VA)
Three Cheers for Three Days in June
Anne Tyler does it again. This spare novel reveals deep characters with flaws and depth. In just three days, Tyler reveals the most important parts of their lives. The struggles, regrets, pivots, moments of forgiveness, and hope. It has it all. Tyler, known for her attention to detail and ability to make the mundane compelling, is at the top of her form. Three Days in June gives us a glimpse into a woman's life on the eve of her daughter's wedding and on the edge of her own happiness.
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Susan W. (Berkley, MI)
Like getting reacquainted with old friends
I loved this book, not just because I'm an Anne Tyler fan, but also because I enjoy quirky characters and observing how they interact with each other. Tyler packs a lot into three days, and a wedding certainly brings up a lot of emotion. I did wish for more. It felt a little like the stage was being set for a sequel. Gail certainly could be the main character of another book.
The characters were believable and felt familiar to me; I could have easily been one of them. In fact some of the emotions made me a little uncomfortable. Tyler is good at that, in a good way.
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Barbara B. (Evansville, IN)
Realistic Marriage Fiction
A wedding and marriage story so realistic, I honestly felt I was at the wedding with the Baines family. Gail and Max are the parents of the bride, Deborah. They both are very complete characters in this novel, nearing retirement age and divorced. The sibling spats, work relationships, job changes, the cuddly cat, and even the proper attire for the wedding all blend together nicely for a practical and likable story. For those who want a quick engaging novel, this is ideal.
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Nancy L. (Staunton, VA)
Short But Sweet
"Three Days in June" by Anne Tyler is a very sweet story but way too short for my taste. It takes place in suburban Maryland as Gail Baines is preparing for her daughter, Debbie's wedding. The three days in June refer to the day before, the day of, and the day after that wedding. There is a certain amount of emotional distance between Gail and Debbie, and the arrival of Max, Gail's ex-husband, ramps up the tension of the plot. I really liked these characters; the bumbling, quietly hopeful Max, and Gail who is not quite comfortable in her skin, her place in her family, and her work environment. But there is so much more I want to know about these characters. How does Gail and Debbie's relationship evolve? Does Gail move to the Eastern Shore? Will Max ever change? This. Short novel definitely needs a follow up.
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Deborah G. (Black Mountain, NC)
Three Days in June and Many Lifetimes!
I love Anne Tyler's books--that hasn't changed over the 50 years I've been reading them. I especially love the way she portrays her characters' feelings and frailties as she does in "Three Days in June," which focuses on the day before, of, and after Gail's daughter Debbie's wedding. Although more novella than novel in length, Tyler conveys many details of not only Gail and Debbie's lives, but Gail's ex-husband, mother, and employer; the groom, his parents and sister; other assorted significant others; as well as neighbors and seemingly incidental characters, including a cat. Tyler's greatest gift may be how she describes her subjects' feelings, which feelings they want to share with others, and the dialog they use to do so, ultimately revealing how people become who they are and behave the way they do. The expertly handled themes here include betrayals and the complexities of reconciliation across the lifespan.
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Donna C. (Pismo Beach, CA)
Ordinary Family, Complicated Lives
I loved this book, as I do all of Anne Tyler's work. This story is not a deep or complicated read, but instead a focus on the everyday lives of a family working through an important event. The setting was an ordinary one, but as happens in life, the day to day stuff gets tangled and what begins as ordinary gets complicated with choices large and small. The characters were so well drawn, always a beautiful part of Tyler's talent, that I could relate to each one's situation and feelings. For fans of the movie Groundhog Day as a metaphor for real life, readers can enjoy the themes of change and maturation and appreciation during the three days in this family's life.
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