I just finished Anne Tyler’s book Three Days in June. I picked it up because it kept popping up everywhere on people’s faves lists; I knew I had read Tyler before, but it was so long ago that I didn’t remember what, so I looked at her bibliography and was surprised to find that I had actually read three—The Accidental Tourist, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, and Breathing Lessons. Since these were all written back in the 1980s, it was long before Goodreads was available to keep track of thoughts and ratings and, frankly, I hardly remember any of them. (A LOT of reading has been undertaken since then, at a rate of 50 to 150 books per year for about 35 years.) But I did remember thinking they were good, so I confidently picked up this latest, published this year.

Hmm.

Here’s a synopsis: A socially awkward mother of the bride narrates her experience on the day before, the day of, and the day after her daughter’s wedding. The book follows Gail as she grapples with her feelings about the past, the present and, possibly, a different future.

Well, first of all, although the book is billed as “a novel” right on its cover, it’s 165 pages long, which I believe qualifies it for novella status. The technical definition is in words, not pages, but if you ask Google to convert it to pages, it comes out to “between 70 and 160,” so I guess technically she made it by five pages? Yeah, no. It’s a novella. Which is what I referenced by saying “three hours in June” in my title—actually, I think it took less than that to read it.

Some people raved about this very thing, by saying that Anne Tyler writes what is necessary and no more. I guess you could make that case; on the other hand, another reviewer said “feels like half a novel.” I have to confess I was torn; in terms of length, I wanted more, but not if these characters didn’t become a little more interesting and also less opaque and slightly more warm and fuzzy.

I will say that Anne Tyler is a keen observer of everyday life and writes believable (if not always charismatic) characters. The protagonist, Gail Baines, is 61, and has just lost her job as assistant headmistress of a private girl’s school in Baltimore, primarily because of her lack of “people skills.” The headmistress is urging her to move on with the next chapter of her life by finding something else to do, and Gail (as most of us would at 61) is thinking, “What?! I got the degree! I worked my way up! And also, I’m effing 61!”

It also happens to be the day before her daughter’s wedding, and her ex-husband (who was invited to stay with their daughter, Debbie) lands on Gail’s doorstep because he comes accompanied by a cat he is fostering, and Debbie’s fiancé is wildly allergic. The job situation, the wedding (with some unforeseen complications on top of the natural sense of loss felt by a parent whose child is marrying), and the reunion with her ex all cause Gail to reflect on what brought her here, as we progress from the day before the wedding through the big day and on to the aftermath, with a few passages of flashback to explain some of the current situation.

And…that’s it.

The story does have a pleasing natural arc to it, but some of the resolutions are both messy and unexpected, given the circumstances, and I was left feeling a bit flat. If you have never read Anne Tyler, I’d take a trip back to the ’80s and check out some of her more complex (and more masterful) works rather than hanging your opinion on this one.