Up the Creek Book Club
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© 2000 Kathy Craig |
Three Junes
by Julia Glass
September 2003
Synopsis
"An astonishing first novel that traces the lives of a Scottish family over a decade as they confront the joys and longings, fulfillments and betrayals of love in all its guises."
"In June of 1989 Paul McLeod, a newspaper publisher and recent widower, travels to Greece, where he falls for a young American artist and reflects on the complicated truth about his marriage. . ..Six years later, again in June, Paul’s death draws his three grown sons and their families back to their ancestral home. Fenno, the eldest, a wry, introspective gay man, narrates the events of this unforeseen reunion. Far from his straitlaced expatriate life as a bookseller in Greenwich Village, Fenno is stunned by a series of revelations that threaten his carefully crafted defenses. . .. Four years farther on, in yet another June, a chance meeting on the Long Island shore brings Fenno together with Fern Olitsky, the artist who once captivated his father. Now pregnant, Fern must weigh her guilt about the past against her wishes for the future and decide what family means to her. In prose rich with compassion and wit, Three Junes paints a haunting portrait of love’s redemptive powers." (Publisher)
National Book Award Winner
Reviews
- "Three Junes brilliantly rescues, then refurbishes, the traditional plot-driven novel.....Glass has written a generous book about family expectations--but also about happiness." (The New York Times Book Review)
- "Three Junes is a novel that bursts with the lives of its characters. They move into our hearts, taking up permanent residence, the newest members of the reader's family of choice." (The Times-Picayune)
- Radiant....an intimate literary triptych of lives pulled together and torn apart." Chicago Tribune
Book Club Rating and Comments
We really enjoyed this book. It is very well written. There were some unresolved loose ends, which may have been the authors intent. All in all, a very satisfactory read. If you or your book club has read this book and would like to share your comments, please email us at upthecreekbc@yahoo.com.