A powerful novel should captivate its readers with its first words. It should make readers feel as if they have intimate relationships with the characters. It should blend the perfect amount of laughter, sorrow, mystery and suspense to engage all its readers’ emotions. Julia Glass’ first novel, Three Junes, has all these qualities and well deserves its 2002 National Book Award for Fiction.
Written in three sections that take place during three summers, Glass’s novel tells the McLeod family’s story. Glass alternates scenes from the present with memories in each of the three sections, creating a vivid portrait of the McLeods. The three Junes, which can be read as three novellas, gracefully flow into each other, with each section building upon the others.
The first section, set in 1989, belongs to Paul, the McLeod father. Mourning the death of his wife, Maureen, and hoping a change of scenery will clear his head, Paul embarks on a tour of the Greek isles. As he travels from island to island and reflects on his marriage with Maureen, Paul becomes infatuated with Fern, an American woman a decade younger than Paul’s sons.
Fenno, the eldest McLeod child, narrates the second June, which takes place in 1995. Now, the McLeod sons reunite at Tealing, their childhood home in Scotland, to mourn Paul’s death. Fenno describes working with his brothers David (the serious, no-nonsense one) and Dennis (David’s fun-loving twin) to honor their father. He also recounts his own life as a homosexual living in Manhattan.
Fern’s story fills the third section, set in 1999. The young woman who captured Paul’s heart a decade ago is now pregnant and visiting at the same Long Island house as Fenno and Dennis. Fern’s story reflects the two preceding ones, as she remembers her mistake-of-a-marriage to her late husband and considers her pregnancy by a man whom she believes she loves.
Three Junes deals with the strongest human emotions: grief and sorrow, happiness and love. Glass’ clear prose beautifully tells the struggles of three people as they confront fears stemming from their pasts. Her intricate, tightly woven plot allows readers to peer into the most intimate thoughts and secrets of the characters. Three Junes tells about a universal human struggle: the need to understand one’s history and then realize that life does not remain stagnant that the promise of a better tomorrow still exists.
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