I love anything written by Anne Tyler, who has such a magical way of turning a simple story of people living their ordinary lives into something beautiful and profound. “Three Days in June” is no exception! In this novel we follow three days in the life of Gail Baines, who first loses her job (replaced by a person who supposedly has “better people skills”). Then with her daughter’s wedding that weekend, her ex-husband shows up, needing a place to stay. Her bride-to-be daughter is having a crisis of her own, which makes Gail remember what it was that destroyed her own marriage.

This is a very short novel, one that can be finished in just a couple of hours. But it is one that will stay with me for a long time. Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel. My opinion is my own.

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler was one of the most beautifully written stories I've read for a long time! It was my first book by Anne Tyler, and it was one of those books that makes me want to immediately go out and get all of her other books.

Anne Tyler’s work is always interesting and this one certainly was. Revolving around the three days of their daughter’s wedding, we get to know Gail and Max, the divorced parents of Debbie, the daughter. Gail is the narrator of this book and she is the socially awkward mother of the bride who loses her job as an assistant headmaster of her school by being told that she is not a people person. It took me quite awhile to warm up to her character but that is the beauty of Ms. Tyler’s writing. Max, on the other hand, felt like a warm comfortable character but a little flighty. Within these three days, we learn about their marriage and their life. A good character driven story and one I will be thinking about for some time.

Three Days in June
by: Anne Tyler
Knopf Pantheon; Vintage and Anchor/Knopf
Pub Date: 2/11/25

Pub Week Review:
Anne Tyler is a Pulitzer Prize winning author, and it is always a joy to read her work. Three Days in June is a short book, at one hundred seventy-six pages. It is storytelling at its best, with a tale about two exes and their daughter's wedding. Anne Baines, the mother of the bride, must carefully push through the days before and after the wedding.

Tyler quietly and masterfully draws her readers in with her keen details about family life, love, and marriage as portrayed in the plot. Tyler is sensitive in her writing about the moments of ordinary life.

I received an advance reader's copy from NetGalley and Knopf Pantheon; Vintage and Anchor/Knopf. My review is my own.

There are a handful of contemporary authors who write middle aged women in such a way that you are convinced they’re writing about you, and Anne Tyler is the leader of the pack. This one is about Gail, who is preparing for her daughter’s wedding weekend while dealing with the loss of her job and a reunion with her ex husband. This short book holds a lot of emotional baggage to unpack. I pictured Julianna Moore and Mark Ruffalo as Gail and Max.
*Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for my honest review*

Another wonderful Anne Tyler book. We get to spend three days with Gail, the divorced mother of the bride on the day before, the day of and the day after the wedding. It is quick, delightful read as we get to know Gail, (and her daughter and her ex husband) as she navigates the impending wedding and its aftermath.

Gail is having a very bad day. She gets bad news at her job and storms out - on the day of her daughter's wedding rehearsal dinner. Then her ex-husband, shows up at her house, bearing a foster cat. While they aren't close, Gail and Max aren't really at odds but she's not comfortable. She's very set in her ways. She remains in the Baltimore area, because of her job and her own mother lives nearby.

Then their daughter has news which is upsetting and sends Gail's mind back to when she and Max met, when they got married, and when they split.

The wedding was unusual and more than a bit uncomfortable for Gail, in particular, but Max as well. Then the next day, they spend the last few hours together before Max heads home to Delaware.

The story had the feeling of people who were a generation older, but it is set in modern time. It was enjoyable and a relatively quick read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I did enjoy this book even though I thought it was slow. I felt for the main character and losing her job, I've been there! I would definitely recommend this book.

I can never pass up a book by Anne Tyler. I love her writing. This book opens with our main character. Gail either quitting her job or getting fired and the day just doesn’t get better for her. It’s the weekend of her daughter‘s wedding and she is both excited and sort of nonchalant about the whole weekend. Her ex-husband shows up there’s a long story involved with why he now has to stay at her house. The book looks back on Gail and her ex-husband‘s Max‘s life together and Gail in general as a woman as a wife, a mom and educator. It happens in the course of three days and yet there is a lot going on, but it is written so succinctly that you just move through it seamlessly. I really enjoyed this book 4 1/2 stars highly recommend it was super short under 170 pages grab this one up. The writing and the emotions are brilliant.

This is a quick easy read with lots of details. The story takes place over three days. Gail's daughter is getting married and the book starts on the day of the rehearsal. After receiving some unexpected news at work, she goes home for the day and is surprised by her ex-husband showing up with a cat. The awkwardness goes on from there. I would give this book 3.5 stars.

Heartfelt tale about a couple reunited after years apart when their daughter‘s wedding brings them together. I loved the quirkiness of the two and was rooting for them to end up together. The daughter’s wedding stirred up some old memories and reflection - It was a memorable occasion and the beginning of a fresh start for all.

Gail has less than stellar people skills. She's a good person but "people-ing" is difficult for her. She wants a good life for her daughter, she wants life to be fair, she wants to forget the not so good parts of life. This book was very enjoyable for me.

It is always a pleasure to read an Anne Tyler book and Three Days in June was no exception.

As the title suggests, Three Days in June follows our protagonist, Gail, over a long weekend during which she is celebrating the wedding of her only daughter. Her ex-husband (and a cat he is fostering) end up staying with her for the weekend. Right before the wedding, she also has an uncomfortable work conversation. All of this throws her life into a bit of an uproar, not to mention the emotions of her daughter's marriage.

Though it takes place over a short timeline, Tyler packs a lot into the novel. Gail goes on quite the emotional journey, starting from a woman bordering on curmudgeonly and becoming a little more open to the world and people around her. This book, more than other Tylers I have read, gave me Strout vibes, not the least because Gail reminded me of Olive Kitteridge. Tyler tackles difficult questions but also gives us a book that is very heartwarming at its core.

My biggest complaint with this book was how out of place it seemed in its modern setting. If Tyler hadn't mentioned cell phones and COVID, I would have thought it was set in the 1990s. Gail seems older than her 60ish year (closer to Tyler's age perhaps) and there are multiple moments in the book that seem out of place. Not to mention the 30-something daughter who goes by "Debbie"...

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this book. I will continue to read whatever Tyler publishes!

Gail is struggling. She lost her job right before her daughter's wedding. She's really having doubts about the groom and whether or not the wedding should take place. Her ex-husband has shown up at her door with plans to stay with her...and he brought a cat with him. Then there's all the feelings she's struggling with trying not to feel put down by the groom's family. All of those feelings in three days.

This was a very emotional book, but I also laughed out loud in many places. Tyler has done an exceptional job of showing the messiness of life and love. I was really, really into this book for most of it. I loved from the beginning that the MFC is a bit older. It seemed like the story took an abrupt turn when it shifted to just Gail and Max. It was a very quick ending that I was not prepared for.

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor and NetGalley for the digital copy. All thoughts are my own.

This was a quick read that tapped into many thoughts and emotions.
Gail seemed very cold and distant. I find it difficult to imagine a bride's mother being so detached and uninterested in her daughter's wedding.
Max seems to be an okay guy. It's a bit presumptuous of him to bring a cat to his ex-wife's home.
Overall, Ms. Tyler told an engaging tale. No extraneous filler. Thank you, Ms. Tyler, for not filling your story with repetitive phrases. That worked beautifully.
Thank you for an ARC of #ThreeDaysInJune
#NetGalley#AnneTyler#AlfredAKnopf#ThreeDaysInJune

Tyler is the master at the understated, conveying so much with her deceptively simple prose. I really enjoyed this one.

"𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥."

Oh, how I loved 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗝𝗨𝗡𝗘! It's a short book - just 156 pages - but Anne Tyler manages to pack so much into this story of Gail, a 60-year-old woman forced to re-examine her life over the course of a June weekend when her only daughter is getting married.

I love reading about more mature protagonists, and I found myself highlighting so many passages I related to in this beautiful and clever character-driven novel. It's quiet and thoughtful, but the author infuses so much meaning and emotion into even the most ordinary moments. Gail's journey made me laugh and touched my heart, and I was sorry to leave her behind when it was over.

4.5 stars

Thanks to AA Knopf for the copy to review.

The thing that stuck out to me in the book description was "a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding". This is both such an apt description and doesn't adequately convey the depth and poignance of this story. While I wouldn't call myself socially awkward, I deeply empathized with Gail. She's very straightforward and can be perceived as terse, but has good intentions. Her ex-husband's arrival on the heels of her maybe kinda quitting her job sets up the novel perfectly. You could feel the something between them and I was so curious to see how the story evolved.

Highly recommend!

Three Days in June takes place on the day before a wedding, the wedding day, and the day after the wedding. The main character is 61 year old Gail, the mother of the bride. At this special time during her and her daughter’s life, she reflects back on her own marriage and divorce. Gail is still trying to figure herself out at 61. Why has she struggled to connect with others throughout her life? What matters the most? Will she ever truly find happiness? I enjoyed this book, although I found myself asking “What’s the point of it?” through at least the first half. It would make a great play with the conversations, self-reflection and self-discovery Gail has over these three days. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the digital ARC.

A story that takes place over three days of her daughter's wedding. The mother of the bride, Gail looks at her own life past, present and future. She has low self esteem and ponders what she will do in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, where many women can identify with parts of Gail. Very likable characters.