Gorgeous, short and bittersweet read about a woman who attends her daughter’s wedding with her ex-husband.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book.

Gail is 61, divorced and has just walked out of her teaching job after being told that she lacks people skills.
Her daughter Debbie is getting married and Gail is unsure about her husband-to-be and bemused by the processes that need to be gone through.
Gail's estranged husband arrives on the doorstep and announces he has come to stay for the wedding, bringing a cat.
And the wedding is imminent...

A delightful description of someone struggling with change, working out relationships and trying to get on with life.

Anne Tyler is the undisputed chief storyteller of bittersweet contemporary US-American family lives, a status she proves once more with ‘Three Days in June’. The three days wrap around the wedding of Gail Banes’ daughter Debbie and force sixty year old Gail to take stock of her life. Firstly her professional life: instead of the educational management role she has smartly and steadfastly worked towards, she is made redundant. Secondly, her marital life: the neat separation from her laid-back former husband Max is reversed when he shows up at Gail’s home ahead of the wedding, bringing Gail’s suppressed feelings of guilt and regret to the forefront. And thirdly, her parental life: why is she, the mother-of-the-bride, excluded from the wedding preparations? And how will she react when her daughter makes a disturbing revelation?
As in other Tyler novels, the characterisation in Three Days in June is nuanced, careful and subtle, letting the reader sense the depth of the nostalgia, sadness, guilt and moral outrage but also the love, firmness of purpose, courage and optimism that the female protagonist experiences as the novel proceeds. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free ARC that allowed me to read this exquisite new book by Baltimore’s finest familial chronicler.

i enjoyed reading this book. I liked the characters and their inter relationships. It is about family and a woman's place in it. It is a pleasant and relaxing read.

It’s not a good day for Gail... After many years, she loses her job, and her ex-husband shows up with a cheeky cat. He stays with her for three days to attend her daughter’s wedding. Unfortunately, it’s uncertain how honest and sincere the groom really is. As she doubts the sincerity of her future son-in-law, she is reminded of her own past marriage. Old memories seem to crawl to the surface, reminding her of the misery she endured while married to Max. Together, they face three busy and complicated days as they attend her daughter’s wedding. Although it’s an entertaining and solid story, it felt like a Hollywood romcom, and the content was a bit disappointing. The writing style, however, was great. I would recommend this book as light reading for a certain type of person.

Lovely. Slow moving, every word carefully considered. Nothing happens yet we see a whole life and become immediately engaged. Every gap is filled right up until we get just what we want. No questions remain unanswered. Just a gentle, beautifully presented insight into a whole life in a snapshot of just three days. Immensely clever.

A cautionary tale about modern relationships with a hint of romance and a dollop of love. Honesty about feelings is cannot be overrated. I enjoyed reading this book immensely.

My wife read and enjoyed this one and this is her review:
This is a very quick and easy read, where the story unfolds over 3 days in June.
Gail has just been told she is no longer required in her position as assistant to the head teacher in a private school. Gail’s daughter is about to get married the day after she learns this news. In addition, her ex-husband turns up at her door with a rescue cat in tow expecting to stay the duration of the wedding preparations.
A funny, thought-provoking story covering the lives of ordinary people, relationships and complicated family dynamics.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley UK for the ARC.

Classic and reassuringly reliable Anne Tyler, Three Days in June is a simple yet beautiful account of a marriage, a family and a wedding.
I am a big fan of the drama from relatable small lives, and Anne Tyler is the master. This is a gentle and easy read.
And there is a cat with a big personality. What is not to love?
An easy five stars from me.

Just such a beautiful book. Anne Tyler just has a way of sucking you right in with her amazing writing. Even when nothing much is going on in the book, the story is so strong that you want to keep reading. This book is 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.

This is an unusually short book, especially for Anne Tyler, but the limited timescale of three days helps to make it work.

The central character is Gail Baines, a school Assistant Head Teacher who walks out on her job after being passed over for promotion, possibly for a lack of people skills, and, on the back of this, reassesses her life and relationships against the background of her daughter’s marriage and an ex-partner, Max, who dumps a cat on her!

It’s a journey for Gail, who has previously relied on being brisk, buttoned up, efficient and, perhaps, a little bit intolerant of the weaknesses of others. Anne Tyler subtly allows her to begin to notice what other people say and what they don’t say, and how they work around her.

Although there are only three days involved, it seems like a slow unravelling and is amusingly described. By the end, you’re likely to think that you know someone who is a bit like Gail and who, without intervention, is in danger of descending into a spiky spinsterhood.

And, yes, she does escape but you’ll have to read the book to find out how. It’s entertaining!

This is the first book I've ever read of this writer, so perhaps its not been the best introduction to her work, I don't know. I'm guessing perhaps it's been written for her fans who have grown to love her style of writing, but unfortunately it's not really my thing, way too tame for me. When I read the blurb, I anticipated a contemporary story, perhaps about family squabbles, but it was far more subtle than that and if anything, a little old fashioned.

This was my first Anne Tyler book and I don’t think it will be my last.

As the title suggests, this story takes place over three days in June - the eve of a wedding, the wedding day, and the day after. They’re an eventful few days for Gail, the mother of the bride, but to say much more would be to give away the details of this finely crafted tale. I really enjoyed this book, and really found myself caring for the characters. The twists and turns are at once heartbreaking and believable, and I found myself rooting for both Gail and her ex-husband Max.

A small, but perfectly formed, book and one I would definitely recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nothing is going right for Gail, omitted from joining her daughter's wedding preparations, sacked from her job, her ex husband turns up expecting to stay with her for 3 days . A time to review her life, admit her mistakes and carry on. Funny, sad, a wonderful read.

This was my first Anne Tyler book and even though it was quite short, I still enjoyed it! It is a very character driven novel taking place over a weekend in June where the main character Gail is preparing for her only daughter's wedding. I liked Gail as a character, but did find her a little infuriating at times as she had quite a negative outlook. However, I really liked her dynamic with her ex-husband Max who turns up at her door last minute needing a place to stay for the wedding.

I rated this 3 stars as I felt like it could have been longer and then we could have had more time getting to know the characters and their relationships.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I've loved reading Anne Tyler and this was no exception. It might be a short read and not have a page turning plot, yet it says so much, with warmth and humour that keep you wanting to read. It makes a pleasant change to read about characters you actually like! A perfect little book.

This is a short but yet another classic from Anne Tyler. She writes so beautifully about ordinary people, human relationships and how the journeys we take in life influence the people we become.
Gail is 61, socially awkward (apparently) and not particularly likeable. We meet her just as things are changing for her in her job at a school and her only daughter is about to get married. We meet her ex-husband, share her irritation and then get to learn about how she got to be in the situation she is now. It doesn't sound very exciting or interesting, but lovers of Anne Tyler will know how she can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, the mundane into something very beautiful and hopeful.
I'm awarding this four rather than five stars because it's quite a slim volume for Tyler and I didn't want it to end.
Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for this advance review copy.

Anne Tyler is my favourite contemporary author. Her piercing gaze which sees the detail of the everyday, her understanding of the dynamics and rhythms within a marriage or family life and her quiet but powerful style which belies you into thinking a story is smaller than it is, have all made me fall in love with her books. Three Days in June is a wonderful reminder of just how good Tyler can be..

Things aren’t going well for Gail. It looks like she has lost her school job - not quite a dismissal as much as a strong suggestion that she is not suitable and they have someone better in mind. Gail is after all not a people person. This criticism really stings! Gail’s daughter is about to get married and her ex-husband has turned up seeking a place to stay. He is accompanied by a rescue cat. The story focuses on Gail and her family before and after the wedding. As Gail and Max navigate their uncomfortable proximity, their daughter has a revelation and Gail has one of her own. Gail is a lady who has her own routines which don’t include an ex husband or a rescue cat. As Gail and Max try to navigate their present, the presence of her ex-husband awakens old memories and and forces Gail to confront her past.

I fell in love with this from page one. In a few sentences I could feel Gail’s social awkwardness, her prickliness. My heart went out to her as she sums up the courage to have her hair done and comes home disappointed. One feels that this might sum up Gail’s experience of the world. She wants to be braver, to venture out of her comfort zone..but her attempts backfire. I loved the beautifully observed rhythm of Gail’s relationship with her ex-husband. They have a well-rehearsed banter and familiar patterns which they settle back into despite the years of divorce. Tyler’s stories are small - this is ostensibly the story of the wedding of Max and Gail’s daughter. However, the story yields deeper themes as it gently unpeels the layers of Gail’s own marriage. By the end of the story I cared so deeply about Max and Gail and was willing them to get back together.

This is Tyler at her best and an absolute tonic of a read. I had all the feels with this one. I laughed and cried. This was the book I had saved for a rainy day and I wish I had a whole bookshelf full of books like this.

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Random House Uk, Vintage for my digital copy of this delightful book.

I really enjoyed this book. Gail has just lost her job and her ex husband turns up on her doorstep ready for the marriage of their daughter the following day. Not ideal! Then her daughter discovers that her husband to be has been keeping a big secret from her, which Gail thinks is a good reason not to marry him. This is a gentle story with some lovely characters and is quite a short read.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

This is a lovely book to devour in a day! It's been some time since I have read any books by Anne Tyler and this was a refreshing, warming book to reintroduce the author to me and to be added to my recommended authors!

The story is told over "3 days" in June, it's the day before her daughter's wedding and everyone is meeting later for the rehearsal. Gail Mother of the Bride has just waked out of her job as deputy head in the local school, she is not telling anyone yet. Her ex-husband shows up without a suit byt carrying a rescue cat - what is going on??!!

More secrets come out, Debbie the bride has also just found out that her husband to be has been keeping a dreadful secret - what to do for the best? Do mam and dad get involved or is it up to the couple to work things out without any interference. After all, it's supposed to alsso be just a low key wedding, no fuss!

This is a funny and thoughtful book, quite mature in ways too but a delight to read!