This book traces the members of a Scottish family as they confront the joys and longings, fullfillments and betrayals of love.

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.

Reserved for Bookray

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending off to another BCer for bookray.

I really enjoyed this book. I didn't have any idea what it was aabout when I started it. The only confusion was the last section of the book. I didn't understand why the author wrote it that way. It seemed to have a different cadence then the rest of the book

Received safe & sound. Will read ASAP & pass along. Thanks!

Just received from Tamster. Thanks!

Gosh, I really tried, but I just couldn't get into this book. Maybe it's my mood, but it just didn't grab me, so I am sending it off to its next stop in the hopes it finds a more appreciative reader. . .

Wow...delivery confirmation and not even sent at the economy "media mail" rate, thanks for all your effort, Lucinda :)! I will start this as soon as I finish Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons.

It took me a while to get into this book, too, but I am so glad I did. I loved the way it sort of wove through lives and times, never dwelling on the characters or the monotony too much. Some books beat themselves up by focusing too much on the details or the minutiae. I kept wishing in the end that the author would tie up all the characters and their connections, but then realized I liked the way the story was sort of left hanging in the wind. I can't put my finger on what I found so comfortable about this story, I just really found it absorbing.

Sorry it took a little longer than usual...work overload lately.

** The only criticism I have is that the title isn't that great. Not sure what I would have gone with, but "Three Junes" is so stagnant and not very essential to the story.

Recieved this one this morning - will read & get it passed along... :O)

I enjoyed this one...but I agree with RlyLv2Rd on the title...it wasn't quite enough...I kept reading the cover - front & back - and kept trying to fit the title with what I was reading...it was a little distracting...I found this to be a good read...there were times it got a bit long-winded & other times when I wanted to keep reading a particuliar storyline...so I guess it all averages out...

This one should be travelling on once again by Monday...Thanks for sharing pjmom8025!! :O)

Received this in the mail today. I have a few rings in front of it, but will get to it as quickly as possible. Thanks!

07/08/2005 - starting this today.

Both batty14 and weareatthebeach have obtained their own copies and have asked to be skipped. Since I am the last one on the list, I will start a continuing book ray on this!

I'm still reading this, but it now looks like I am the final member of this book ray. pjmom8025 has given me permission to do with this book as I wish, so I will continue its book ray journey! Here are the participants so far:

lolamarie - California, USA - prefers to ship US/Canada
loveamystery - Canada - can ship anywhere <--currently here!
Nell-Lu - UK - prefers to ship UK & Europe
redhouse - UK - can ship anywhere
wyldewomin - Massachusetts, USA
EDDI - Australia - ship within Australia

RELEASE NOTES:

Continuing the book ray - it's off to Lolamarie! Mailed 08/01/2005.

Received today and will read this next. Thanks!

I really enjoyed this book. The writing was excellent and the characters were quite believable. I also liked the way the story was true to life - no pat endings.

Mailed off to loveamystery. Enjoy!

This arrived by mail today and I am really looking forward to reading it. Thanks, lolamarie for sending it to Canada.

I liked this book immensely.I especially liked Fenno and felt like he lived his life to the fullest. He did not live his life as perhaps his father imagined he would, but I think his father would have admired his ability to balance giving to others with being happy himself. There are many layers to this story and so much to ponder about family relationships, expectations, and desires. Thank you mamikaem for sharing this book.As soon as I have an address, this book will be on its way to the next in line.

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed this book off this morning and it is now on its way to Nell-Lu by surface mail.

Arrived in this morning's post - thank you everyone for sharing. Special thanks to loveamystery for the gorgeous bookmark.

I'm half-way through a book at the moment (Hero of the Underworld) so will start this when I finish. I'm looking forward to it!

Oh dear.

This is probably a perfectly good book. The problem for me is that the Scottish characters are simply not believable Scots. This meant that the first section in particular - focusing on Paul, a retirement-age newspaper editor from Dumfries & Galloway - was painful to read. I laughed out loud at some points (and every friend to whom I've mentioned the reference to "Bobby Burns" has also laughed - I actually didn't comprehend that the author was referring to Robert Burns, known as Rabbie, until I read the end of the sentence: "...who broke as many hearts as he wrote poems").

The second and third sections were better, simply because the next generation of the family had moved away and so their non-Scottishness was no longer an issue (except David and Lillian who were so two-dimensional it didn't matter). I liked Fenno and his bookshop, I liked the parrot, and the relationship with Mal was interesting - especially because it was told in a very complex way, through flashbacks and different viewpoints. I don't know New York beyond a two-week visit, so I have no idea whether the characters, language and geography described are authentic, but I was happy to believe in them.

But, the terrible, embarrasing-to-read start ruined the book for me. It's taken me days to get to the end, because I'd put it down and really not want to go back to it. What a shame! Thanks for sharing, anyway, especially Mamikaem for setting up the bookray.

redhouse has asked to be skipped, so I'll package this up ready to send to wyldewomin. I'll take it to the Post Office tomorrow morning.

Added Friday 21 October 2005: sent Surface Mail this morning.

Whoa! Wicked fast surface mail. Arrived with a beautiful postcard from one of my all time favourite cities :-)

I will be sending this out to EDDI at the end of next week when I get paid.

Pretty good. Will put longer entry later. Sending to eddi monday as post office is closed for the day.

Returned from overseas holiday to find this book waiting for me. Thanks.

I read the whole book in a couple of days. I liked the writing style and found the characters mostly real and interesting. The middle section was definitely the most appealing but by the last section, I found I had lost interest somewhat. Would have prefered more about Lillian's children and their relationship with Fenno perhaps, whereas I didn't care about Fern! I'll see whether any other Aussies would like to read this.

RELEASE NOTES:

Left in a shopping trolley and it was gone when I got back.