About This Book:
A new Anne Tyler novel destined to be an instant classic: a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter’s wedding.
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.
But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
Told with deep sensitivity and a tart sense of humor, full of the joys and heartbreaks of love and marriage and family life, Three Days in June is a triumph, and gives us the perennially bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer at the height of her powers.
-From Penguin Random House Website
My Thoughts After Reading:
Given its page length and synopsis, I prepared for a simple, somewhat fluffy, novel largely centered around wedding woes. Boy was I wrong! It is a “slice of life” story about self-forgiveness, second chances and changing family dynamics.
Tyler’s writing is concise but engaging. Every scene is written with intention and has an impact on the story. Three Days in June is character driven and reflective. Not much happens in the three days we spend with Gail, Max and Debbie (and don’t forget the cat!) and yet, so much is felt, speculated and decided upon.
If you’ve read any of my previous blog posts, you know how much I love “real” characters. Don’t get me wrong – good vs. evil type books are amazing, too. But real life isn’t nearly so black and white. Authors, like Tyler, that write within the messy middle have such a talent for honest storytelling.
This is my first Anne Tyler novel. With 20+ novels other novels to choose from, it won’t be my last.
If you are looking for more recommendations, her twentieth novel, A Spool of Blue Thread, was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2015. Her eleventh novel, Breathing Lessons, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1989.
-Michelle
