Three Days in June
Fiction
Random House
February 11, 2025
E-book
177
Publisher via NetGalley
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
My review:
Let me start by saying that I would likely read the phone book if this lady wrote it (and yes, I'm dating myself saying that, but I digress)! Tyler is a master at immersing you into her characters lives, even if only for a brief time. In the case of this book, we follow Gail the day before, the day of, and the day after her daughter's wedding. As is usually the case with a wedding, there is a lot of drama surrounding the event, but in this case it's compounded by several factors. Her ex shows up with a cat (and no suit or place to stay), she has been shunned for a job promotion because she lacks "people skills", and her daughter drops some concerning news regarding her future son-in-law. What's a Mom to do? I just loved this character driven study into Gail's thoughts and actions for this short slice of her life (with some musings on her past included). Her ex husband was also a great character and I loved the way they interacted (him being laid back, her being the consummate worrier). And let's not forget how things play out just as you suspected with the cat! I loved the emotions this brought up, it was funny at times, but then melancholy, it felt like you were having a friend relate to you what was going on in her life. The fact that the protagonist was a sixty year old woman was icing on the cake, I love reading stories with women of my age!
As is the case with most of this author's work, you're not going to get a whole lot of plot with this story, but what you will get is a satisfying look into the thoughts and feelings of a mother, soon to be a mother-in-law. I will pick up anything this author writes, and I eagerly wait for what's next!
