A review by shelleys_book_nook
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is the story of Gail Baines during the weekend of her daughter Debbie's wedding. It starts off with her quitting her job after being passed over for a promotion. She's also feeling a little left out of the wedding plans. Then her ex shows up at her house as an uninvited houseguest, with a foster cat, no less. Then Debbie shares an intimate detail with her parents that questions whether the wedding should go forward as planned.

This is a short book but as you can tell from the synopsis Tyler packs a lot into it. Gail has a lot to deal with over these three days in June. I love the way Tyler writes about ordinary life. I felt like I was reading about a friend telling me her deepest thoughts and concerns. How the author developed so much of a story into so few pages and did it with such skill is beyond me.

I think any reader especially those of a certain age can relate to Gail and as usual, Tyler writes a wonderful story about a family and one woman's place in it. Gail's expectations of the family and the family's expectations of each other. How can you not love an Anne Tyler book? It's filled with humour, sensitivity and love. It's about the ups and downs of life and how everything can still turn out okay even in the downs. All. The. Stars.