Three Junes

I’m sorry to anyone who has actually been waiting with bated breath to find out what I read next. I had a very bad cold that made it impossible for me to think, much less write. Anyway, after Midwives I picked up another Amy recommendation, Three Junes by Julia Glass.

Three Junes is made up of three stories that span ten years in the life of Fenno McLeod. The first story is told from the perspective of Fenno’s father Paul, who has gone on a trip to Greece to try and move on after his wife’s death. Paul contemplates his relationship with his wife and sons and meets a young woman named Fern, who he winds up confiding in. In the second story Fenno travels to Scotland for his father’s funeral. In flashbacks he tells the story of his friendship with a man named Mal, who Fenno cares for as he dies of AIDS. The third story is from Fern’s perspective. She meets Fenno while visiting a friend in the Hamptons. He opens up to her just like his father did in Greece ten years before.

I didn’t love the first and third parts, but I really enjoyed the middle, and longest, story about Fenno and Mal. Glass does an amazing job of painting her characters and their complex relationships; Fenno and his father, Fenno and his brothers, the brothers and their parents, Fenno and Mal. Three Junes is an excellent character study, allowing the reader to see Fenno from various angles and perspectives.

That is what I liked about the novel. My problem with the story was the tidy way in which each story wrapped up. Each story had the central character take a break from regular life, think over the life altering events of the past and realize how to move on and truly live life. Fenno’s story doesn’t wrap up quite so tightly, he’s not entirely healed when shows up again in Fern’s story, but he has learned his lesson about being afraid of life and love.

This comes across as very uneven, which is a pretty accurate picture of my thoughts. My opinions were all over the place while I was reading, but I think I finally came down on the side of really liking it. The language is beautiful and as I’ve said repeatedly, I love a good character study. I’d recommend it to anyone who has similar tastes.