Last week, Banner journalist Leslie Gray Streeter hosted the first Banner Book Club featuring Anne Tyler’s “Three Days in June.”

The book centers on Gail, a quirky 60-something protagonist who struggles with social interactions and family relationships. These all come to a head when her daughter, Debbie, gets married over — you guessed it — three days in June.

Here are five highlights from the discussion.

• Gail initially appears unlikable and quirky, but readers developed empathy for her complexity as the story unfolded. Many audience members found her relatable despite her flaws, particularly those who recognized Gail’s sense of isolation, her struggle with family dynamics and her comfort in her own “curmudgeonness.” Gail is ultimately revealed as a nuanced, imperfect character who reflects the messy reality of human relationships.

• Gail and Debbie represent a complicated mother-daughter relationship characterized by emotional distance, mutual misunderstandings and unspoken tensions. Debbie is seemingly embarrassed by her mother’s quirks, and Gail feels marginalized. That dynamic is particularly evident in Debbie’s decision not to invite Gail to her wedding’s “Day of Beauty,” as well as Debbie’s tendency to contact her in-laws before her own mother.

• Max, Gail’s ex-husband who unexpectedly appears before their daughter’s wedding with a cat and a potential chance for reconnection, challenges Gail’s long-held narrative about their past relationship. One reader, who was divorced with a 21-year-old son, particularly identified with Max and found the story relatable due to their own complex, post-divorce family dynamics.

• Baltimore serves as more than a mere backdrop in the novel. The city functions as a living, breathing character that shapes the narrative through its distinctive neighborhoods, quirky sensibilities and intimate local details. It allows Tyler to explore universal human experiences through deeply specific geographical and cultural lenses.

• Streeter noted that Tyler has a remarkable talent for “writing about ordinary things and ordinary people in such a compelling way.” She also remarked that the author transforms mundane experiences into profound narratives by revealing “the story that you tell yourself about your life,” and showing how “ordinary lives become compelling because we can all relate to that.”

Want to join the discussion? The next Banner Book Club will take place on Aug. 20. Reporter Christina Tkacik will facilitate a conversation on David Grann’s “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder.”