Book Review: Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Three Days in June
Author: Anne Tyler
Publisher: Knopf
Publication date: February 11, 2025
Length: 176 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

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

Three Days in June is a short, sharp tale of family and marriage. As the title promises, the story unfolds over three days — the days before, of, and after the main character’s daughter’s wedding. Really, all you need to know is that Three Days in June is prime Anne Tyler. If you’re a fan, you know already that you need to read this!

Gail is 61 years old, works in administration at a Baltimore private school, and has lived alone for over 20 years following her divorce. Her only child, daughter Debbie, is a 30-something lawyer about to get married. Gail is slightly befuddled by the wedding plans, which Debbie’s soon-to-be in-laws have taken charge of — combining their abundant money with copious Google searches on how to coordinate a wedding, to produce an event that’s simple yet by-the-book. Of course, it would have been nice if Gail had been invited to the Day of Beauty (not that she’d even known a Day of Beauty was a pre-wedding tradition)… but then again, would she really have wanted to be forced to socialize all day at the spa?

Sometimes when I find out what’s on other people’s minds I honestly wonder if we all live on totally separate planets.

Her work life is confusing as well. A successful staff member, or so she thought, Gail’s just learned that when her boss retires, someone else will get the job she expected to be promoted into — and what’s worse, that new person will be bringing her own staff, effectively replacing Gail entirely. When Gail’s boss tells her, as if it’s supposed to be obvious, that she lacks people skills, it throws her into a tizzy… which is compounded by the arrival of her ex-husband Max on her doorstep. Max has arrived with a foster cat and in need of a place to stay. What’s Gail to do? Determined to make the best of things for Debbie’s sake, she reluctantly lets Max into her home — and by doing so, reopens memories of their past together, and where their marriage went wrong.

Three Days in June is very much a slice of life narrative. The events portrayed are ordinary; they’re one family’s experience of a significant moment, but nothing that happens is terribly dramatic. The beauty of Three Days in June is, in fact, it’s ordinariness. Through Gail’s eyes, we see into the dynamics of a family, with its ups and downs, the relationships that change over time, the impact of divorce on a child, and the ways in which adult parents interact when they lead separate lives.

I loved the writing and the gentle storytelling in Three Days in June. Anne Tyler, as always, excels at showing the inner workings of a marriage, as the sad, complicated story of Gail and Max’s divorce unfolds, but also as we see the two of them reconnecting at this much different stage of their lives. Seeing the realizations that come with age and experience makes this book feel very relatable and real.

That’s something you forget when you’ve been on your own awhile: those married couple conversations that continue intermittently for weeks, sometimes, branching out and doubling back and looping into earlier strands like a piece of crochet work.

At a length of under 200 pages, Three Days in June is a short treat that can be read in one cozy, extended sitting. I felt that I really got to know the characters based on how they lived their lives over these three days. So many little moments ring true. It’s all quite human and lovely.

Over the course of my reading life, I’ve read many Anne Tyler books (this is her 25th novel!), although I don’t always stay on top of her new releases. (I was startled to realize that the last book I read by her, A Spool of Blue Thread, was published 7 years ago!). According to her biography, Anne Tyler is 83 years old. Clearly, she’s still going strong! Here’s to many more Anne Tyler novels yet to come!

For those who are fans, Three Days in June is obviously a must-read. For anyone new to this author, why not pick it up and give it a try? It’s a lovely example of her approach, and I’d imagine anyone reading this book as an intro to the author will be hungry for more by the time they’re done.

17Apr2016

Book Review: A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Synopsis:

(via Goodreads)

A freshly observed, joyful and wrenching, funny and true new novel from Anne Tyler

“It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon.” This is how Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she fell in love with Red that day in July 1959. The Whitshanks are one of those families that radiate togetherness: an indefinable, enviable kind of specialness. But they are also like all families, in that the stories they tell themselves reveal only part of the picture. Abby and Red and their four grown children have accumulated not only tender moments, laughter, and celebrations, but also jealousies, disappointments, and carefully guarded secrets. from Red’s father and mother, newly-arrived in Baltimore in the 1920s, to Abby and Red’s grandchildren carrying the family legacy boisterously into the twenty-first century, here are four generations of Whitshanks, their lives unfolding in and around the sprawling, lovingly worn Baltimore house that has always been their anchor.

Brimming with all the insight, humour, and generosity of spirit that are the hallmarks of Anne Tyler’s work, A Spool of Blue Thread tells a poignant yet unsentimental story in praise of family in all its emotional complexity. It is a novel to cherish.

My thoughts:

It’s been years since I’ve last read an Anne Tyler novel — and picking up A Spool of Blue Thread is like cozying up with a comfy old blanket and curling up in a favorite chair. It’s homey and warm and familiar, but the familiarity doesn’t take away at all from the sheer pleasure of spending time with it.

In A Spool of Blue Thread, we meet the Whitshanks, a big, sprawling family whose lives seem centered around their beautiful family home with the big front porch, the home that’s been in the family for three generations and was in fact built by the first of the Whitshanks to live in it. The first characters introduced are Abby and Red, a married couple in their seventies who’ve raised four children, have a good, well-worn marriage, and seem to enjoy their lives.

Their children and grandchildren are a source of non-stop discussion and worry, particularly Denny, the black sheep of the family who can always be depended upon to be undependable. Denny disappears for months or years at a time, only to show up or call with an odd or worrying or unexpected announcement that throws the family into a tizzy.

As Abby and Red age, their children become increasingly worried about their ability to live on their own in their big house, and so various children and their children move in to provide care, manage things, and try to sort out the little rivalries and resentments that have built up over the years.

As the story unfolds, early hints about family history are unpacked for the reader. The family may never know much about Junior and Linnie Mae, the original Whitshanks to live in the family home, but late in the book, we finally get their story, and it’s not what it seemed. Likewise, when we finally hear Abby’s version of how she and Red met, it’s surprising and touching all at once.

A Spool of Blue Thread is a quintessential character-driven book. There’s not much plot to speak of — no big drama or mystery or climax. Instead, it’s a study of family and individuals, their desires and frustrations and misunderstandings and dynamics. It’s lovely to see a family unfold to reveal its heart and soul. The Whitshanks have had their share of disappointments and tensions, but they’re still there, together, figuring things out. Beyond a profile of a family, it’s also a moving depiction of the worries of aging parents, from both the parents’ viewpoint as well as the adult children who have to balance their own lives with the complications required by figuring out how to help parents who may or may not be able to function on their own any longer.

As I mentioned, it’s been quite a while since I’ve read anything by this author, although there was a time when I read all of her new books as soon as they came out. I think I’d reached my saturation point somewhere along the line, and I might not have picked up A Spool of Blue Thread if it hadn’t been my book club’s pick for April.

So, yet another reason to proclaim that I love my book club! A Spool of Blue Thread is a perfect domestic novel that’s touching, funny, and beautifully written. I’m so glad to have read it — and it makes me want to go figure out what other Anne Tyler books I’ve missed over the years.

_________________________________________

The details:

Title: A Spool of Blue Thread
Author: Anne Tyler
Publisher: Bond Street Books
Publication date: February 20, 2015
Length: 358 pages
Genre: Adult fiction
Source: Library

4Jul2013

Flashback Friday: Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Flashback Friday is my own little weekly tradition, in which I pick a book from my reading past to highlight — and you’re invited to join in!

Here are the Flashback Friday book selection guidelines:

Has to be something you’ve read yourself
Has to still be available, preferably still in print
Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

Other than that, the sky’s the limit! Join me, please, and let us all know: what are the books you’ve read that you always rave about? What books from your past do you wish EVERYONE would read? Pick something from five years ago, or go all the way back to the Canterbury Tales if you want. It’s Flashback Friday time!

My pick for this week’s Flashback Friday:

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler

(first published 1982)

From Goodreads:

Pearl Tull is nearing the end of her life but not of her memory. It was a Sunday night in 1944 when her husband left the little row house on Baltimore’s Calvert Street, abandoning Pearl to raise their three children alone: Jenny, high-spirited and determined, nurturing to strangers but distant to those she loves; the older son, Cody, a wild and incorrigible youth possessed by the lure of power and money; and sweet, clumsy Ezra, Pearl’s favorite, who never stops yearning for the perfect family that could never be his own.

Now Pearl and her three grown children have gathered together again–with anger, hope, and a beautiful, harsh, and dazzling story to tell.

I went through a period in the 1980s/1990s when I just couldn’t get enough of Anne Tyler’s books, and this was the one that started it all for me. No matter the plot, Anne Tyler’s books tend to be about ordinary people just dealing with life, its joys and its disappointments, but full of warmth, honesty, and a fresh tone that makes her writing totally accessible. Soon after reading Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, I also read A Slipping Down Life, The Accidental Tourist, and Searching for Caleb, and have read other books by this author in the years since.

What makes Anne Tyler’s books memorable are the flawed characters and the challenges and crises they face — some more successfully than others. Her books are not large in scope, but rather portray small slices of life that feel real and possible.

Note from your friendly Bookshelf Fantasies host: To join the Flashback Friday fun, write a blog post about a book you love (please mention Bookshelf Fantasies as the Flashback Friday host!) and share your link below. Don’t have a blog post to share? Then share your favorite oldie-but-goodie in the comments section. Jump in!