Three Days In June by Anne Tyler

 

This is not how Gail Baines saw her life in her sixties.  She has just been informed that the school where she works is getting a new head and her job has been given to someone else.  She quits on the spot and huffs off home.  Her daughter is getting married tomorrow and she has plenty to do even though she has been left out of the spa day today.  Then her doorbell rings.

She sees Max, her ex-husband, on the porch.  He has a cat with him and he tells her that he can't stay with their daughter as he had planned because her fiancé is allergic to cats.  Can he stay with Gail?  It's the last thing she wants but what can she say?  She hasn't seen much of Max since he moved away after their divorce but she guesses one weekend after all this time won't matter.

Then that night their daughter comes to them in tears.  She found out at the rehearsal dinner that the man she's marrying tomorrow had an affair while they were together.  Should she call off the wedding?  Gail is all for that and is outraged but Max suggests that the daughter go talk things out.  The next morning the wedding is back on and the weekend progresses.

Anne Tyler should be named our author of good feelings.  Reading one of her books is like getting an unexpected bouquet of flowers and her knowledge of people and their quirks is instinctive and forgiving.  Her characters feel like people you've met and their lives are like those of others you've known.  There are surprises along the way and the reader finishes the book with a feeling of satisfaction and that the world is a good place.  This book is recommended for readers of literary and women's fiction.