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A mother reflects on the breakdown of her marriage as she attends her daughter’s wedding, in a novella that brilliantly depicts family dynamics

At the start of Three Days in June, Gail Baines, a 61-year-old teacher, has a meeting with her school head, who informs her she is about to retire. Gail assumes she is next in line for the job, but the head tells her she doesn’t have the people skills and asks if she has considered retirement herself. Affronted, she walks out of the school and from her job without collecting the photo on her desk of her daughter, Debbie, who is about to get married. After Gail gets home, her ex-husband, Max, arrives. He is staying with her for the wedding weekend and tells her he has forgotten to bring a suit – although he has brought a cat. Not for the first time, Gail wonders “why it was that I had so many irritating people in my life”.

Set in Baltimore, Anne Tyler’s novella spans the before, during and after of Debbie’s wedding. Told through Gail’s eyes, the plot is deliberately slim as it explores subtle family dynamics and the mundanity of everyday life. Thus, we accompany Gail as she collects her outfit from the dry cleaners and visits a hair stylist with whom she declines to make small talk. J Smith Cameron, best known for her role as Gerri in Succession, is the narrator, and adeptly captures Gail’s social awkwardness that, unbeknown to her, can come over as chilly and detached. As she ponders the breakdown of her marriage to Max, we see that the headteacher had a point. Although we root for Gail and her future happiness, it is clear her people skills need work.

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