Book Review: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Release Date: February 6, 2018 (That’s today!)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.
This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward–with hope and pain–into the future.
Roy and Celestial are a newly married black couple and are still in the blissful honeymoon stage for the most part. Their careers are going well and they’ve recently decided to start a family. However, their lives and marriage are forever changed when Roy is arrested for and subsequently convicted of raping a white woman – a crime he did not commit. He is sentenced to twelve years in prison. Can his marriage to Celestial endure a twelve year separation? Should it be expected to? Celestial tries her best to wait it out, but ultimately decides she cannot stay. Then things get complicated when Roy is released after only serving five years of his sentence.
The author explores not only how Roy is affected by his time in prison but how everyone in his life is affected as well. She brings the unfortunate mass incarceration epidemic we have in this country down to the micro level. Roy was an up and coming business man full of optimism before he was falsely convicted. Then his life was basically destroyed and his cheery optimism and ambition stomped out of him by the system.
Tayari Jones’s prose is beautiful and her characters are richly drawn. The depth of this story is amazing. There is so much to think about and so many questions to ask of oneself while reading. Because of that, I think this book would make an excellent book club selection. I know that it’s still early but I’m certain that An American Marriage will make my best reads of 2018 list.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.)
