Three Junes

"Three Junes" is a trilogy of sorts, with its distinct parts set in 1989, 1995, and 1999. Each section could be read on its own (and, in fact, the first, "Collies," won an award for best novella in 1999), but, taken as a whole, they encompass a multifaceted portrait of Fenno McLeod, his family, and his friends. Told from the third person, "Collies" serves as a prologue and introduces us to the three sons of Paul McLeod, who travels through the Greek islands and reminisces about the poignant family reunion in Scotland effected by his wife's death. The second part, "Upright," takes up most of the book. Fenno is the narrator, skipping back and forth between his father's funeral and his expatriate life in Manhattan, where he befriends the catty and urbane Malachy Burns, manages a bookstore in Greenwich Village, and has a unexpected dalliance with a photographer named Tony. Fenno's reserved relationship with his two brothers mirrors his tense friendship with Mal, who, dying of AIDS, maintains his own dignity and an admirable drollness that challenges both his mother's intrusive (yet occasionally endearing) rectitude and Fenno's "constipatedly humorless" aloofness. Drastically shifting perspective once again, the final section, "Boys," is a fitting epilogue seen through the eyes of Fern, whose getaway with Tony in the Hamptons is unexpectedly augmented with a visit by Fenno and one of his brothers. The change in perspective, dramatis personae, and even tone between each section is certainly peculiar and seems to puzzle some readers; the character of Fern especially resembles a late arrival crashing a family gathering that's almost over. In an interview for Bookbrowse (an online magazine), Glass described her book as "a triptych--that is, a strong central image flanked by two narrower, more modest images," and she compared her novel to a medieval altarpiece in which a "central panel--be it a picture of the annunciation, the crucifixion, or a martyrdom--is flanked by panels depicting portraits of the altarpiece donors.... Here was Fenno's large, rich story at the center, told directly to the reader, with Paul and Fern portrayed in intimate detail to left and right but seen from the side." For me, it works. And Glass's tri-fold "painting" is enhanced both by the enviously discerning empathy for her characters and, above all, by a genius for infusing wit and warmth into the decidedly melancholy core of her tale. Fenno and his brothers, Mal and his mother, and even the latecomer Fern are characters I won't soon forget.

Apparently Julia Glass waited until middle age before writing Three Junes, and the book exemplifies the kind of wisdom that would simply be lacking in a younger writer. It is an elegantly structured novel primarliy about people dealing with grief and loss. Divided into three sections, like a triptych, Glass manages to simultaneously make each stand on its own as a complete work of fiction but also bring all three together in a way that makes the whole exceed the sum of its parts. And as a gay reader, it is refreshing to read about Greenwich Village queens who exist primarliy outside the cliches of a gay ghetto. My only reservation is that the emotional climax of the book comes too early--at the end of the middle section--with much of the final section feeling like denouement. Still, the final section is not at all boring because the characters, especially Fenno, are by that point so compelling. If your looking for a book with a great plot, you probalby will be bored by Three June, but if you're interested in a book that will provide you with some truths about you own life, then I suggest you check it out. It's well worthy of its National Book Award.

Three Junes is a lovely read, one that begins strongly and only gets better. The story concerns a Scottish family and begins in June 1989. Paul McLeod, recently widowed, takes a tour to Greece, contemplating his future, his past, his family. Jump ahead six years and we are in Scotland, where Paul's three sons are preparing for his funeral. Jump again four years, to Eastern Long Island, a weekend get together with two of Paul's sons and Fern, a woman Paul met on his trip to Greece. It is hard to do justice to this novel in a few pithy sentences. The writing is beautiful and Glass gives us characters we can care about deeply. Their lives are complicated, but without any melodrama or pyrotechnics. Her writing is simply beautiful and I believe gets stronger as the novel progresses. I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful novel and highly recommend it. Enjoy.

This book isn't my standard cup of tea, but the reviews were so universally good, I decided to give it a try. It was wonderfully well worth the time. This is not a book you can idly pick up and scan for a while, then return to it as time allows. It is a well-told family story with personal intrigues and family secrets, none of which are so outlandish that we don't have a few of them littering our own closets. Because she needs for us to know the Scottish McLeod family well in order to propel the story along, Julia Glass takes a lot of time and pages to get us acquainted. For the reader who requires action to move a story along, this is a bit of a test, because it is the unfolding of the characters themselves that moves the story along, beautifully, heartbreakingly. It is easy to become impatient with Fenno, our main character and mini-hero, because he seems so paralyzed by his life, but read on and you will come to appreciate the many fine qualities of his character and those of his well-meaning family. I felt very satisfied upon finishing this - and ready for a trip to Greece (subplot)!

"Three Junes" is elegantly written and highly entertaining, though its compelling plot is difficult to describe succinctly. It's partly a family saga (the story of three generations of the Scottish McLeods), but it's also an elegiac story of New Yorkers in the era of AIDS and a hopeful meditation on impending motherhood by a 30-something single widow. The book is both heartbreaking and hopeful; it's about the fragility of life, whether it is extinguished in a single act of terrorist madness or by the modern plague of AIDS or cancer. "Three Junes" is filled with articulate, civilized characters--witty, intelligent sophisticates--who must face the inevitabilities of life--birth, love, and, of course, death. (Those elemental themes, I think, give the novel a remarkable urgency, helped along with a great deal of narrative skill; it's a literary page-turner.) These people face life, for the most part, with grace and dignity and decency; virtually all of them are compelling, vividly sketched and fully realized. And the scenes that propel the reader forward are incredibly well delineated, from an emotionally draining funeral to an impromptu dinner party in Amagansett?the narrative momentum is intense. An interesting subtheme concerns the world of pets--collies and a spectacular parrot--and how their life cycles mirror (and sometimes transcend) those of their human counterparts. The writing is lyrical, painterly and often poetic, but never narcissistically so. This novel is a real accomplishment--difficult to fathom that it's a first novel--and should be very engaging to anyone interested in contemporary fiction.