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An American Marriage
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Fiction (2018)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.
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.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published January 29, 2018
About the author
Tayari Jones
24 books29.3k followersTayari Jones is the author of the novels Leaving Atlanta, The Untelling, Silver Sparrow, and An American Marriage (Algonquin Books, February 2018). Her writing has appeared in Tin House, The Believer, The New York Times, and Callaloo. A member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, she has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, Lifetime Achievement Award in Fine Arts from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, United States Artist Fellowship, NEA Fellowship and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship. Silver Sparrow was named a #1 Indie Next Pick by booksellers in 2011, and the NEA added it to its Big Read Library of classics in 2016. Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. She is currently an Associate Professor in the MFA program at Rutgers-Newark University.
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December 23, 2023
There is something about the genre of contemporary novels An American Marriage belongs to in my mind that hurts so much to read. Maybe it's the almost abject proximity to the real world that disappears all hope of escape. Maybe it's the reminder that life really is sometimes this way: inexplicable, unyielding, and so savagely unfair.
In any case, the experience of reading this book stung so hard I almost expected to look down and find the cut of it on my skin.
***
Being the victim of a wrongful conviction is one of those impossible things that we like to console ourselves into thinking they happen to exceptionally unlucky people, in places so impossibly far away from where we are that they might as will not exist. But to Roy and Celestial, the protagonists of this novel, the impossible has just become as real as a reflection in the mirror.
Roy and Celestial were doing well for themselves. Their life stretched out indescribably precious and sweet before them, with the years laid out ahead and the choices still there to be made: him as a rising corporate executive, and her building a portfolio as an artist. Roy’s wrongful imprisonment was a rupture, opening up to devour the small, brave hope growing inside Roy and Celestial's marriage.
In sharp vivid language that lingers, in equal measure, on ugliness and beauty, violence and intimacy, Jones explores the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple in a haunting, compelling and deeply humane work of fiction. Much of the story is told through the letters Roy and Celestial send each other during his incarceration. There is something uncomfortably voyeuristic in the experience of reading, as we witness as the fine grains of Roy and Celestial's marriage begin to course between their fingers. As the long year begin to stretch both of them thin. As they are left them waiting, trapped and uncertain, on the borders of an as-yet-uncharted future looming out of the fog. After five years of purgatory, Roy is acquitted, but freedom has never tasted so much like ashes. Something has been lost in the long gulf of Roy and Celestial’s separation, something irretrievable, something neither of them is sure they wanted back.
An American Marriage is a luminous, viscerally potent exploration of a very difficult marriage between two complicated people who are exhausted from their own efforts to become something more than a consequence, and who are most married where it counted most: in the horrors they have shared.
Jones lures you into Roy and Celestial’s lives only to do terrible, wonderful things to your head and heart. Reading this book, I was struck sometimes by the senseless idea that everything around me was made of glass. Celestial and Roy walked the floor of their relationship like tightrope performers, placing each foot gingerly in front of the other, testing for weaknesses, waiting for the moment when the whole thing eventually gives way.
It would’ve been so easy to call sides, to pick a favorite character and place the weight of the blame on the other. But Jones makes it impossible to do so. Instead, as the story corkscrews into a tighter and tighter coil, the reader is forced to confront what Celestial and Roy really owe each other, and if the answer could really be that simple. Roy was violently robbed of something he could never get back, and to survive, he’s convinced himself that the door he and Celestial have created between them long ago would always open at his knock. Celestial was robbed too, but if what had been taken from Celestial could never amount to what had been taken from Roy, was it selfishness to refuse to wait in an agony of wondering? Or is it selfishness to expect her to wait in the first place? Ultimately, this is what holds steady throughout the novel: Jones gives us a truth that is messy and nuanced and complex and sometimes even contradictory, and she yields no easy answers.
At its core, An American Marriage is a love story, but reading this book, it's impossible to escape its condemnation of America’s profoundly flawed system of justice. Even when justice was eventually served, it was a kind of escape, but it mocked freedom. Justice was not going to bring back Roy’s lost years. It was not going to change the past, but it will forever define it. Jones tells you that maybe it doesn’t have to define the future too. Roy's present might be overlaid with past sorrow, but he was free, and the future from that perch was at least visible.
In any case, the experience of reading this book stung so hard I almost expected to look down and find the cut of it on my skin.
***
Being the victim of a wrongful conviction is one of those impossible things that we like to console ourselves into thinking they happen to exceptionally unlucky people, in places so impossibly far away from where we are that they might as will not exist. But to Roy and Celestial, the protagonists of this novel, the impossible has just become as real as a reflection in the mirror.
Roy and Celestial were doing well for themselves. Their life stretched out indescribably precious and sweet before them, with the years laid out ahead and the choices still there to be made: him as a rising corporate executive, and her building a portfolio as an artist. Roy’s wrongful imprisonment was a rupture, opening up to devour the small, brave hope growing inside Roy and Celestial's marriage.
In sharp vivid language that lingers, in equal measure, on ugliness and beauty, violence and intimacy, Jones explores the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple in a haunting, compelling and deeply humane work of fiction. Much of the story is told through the letters Roy and Celestial send each other during his incarceration. There is something uncomfortably voyeuristic in the experience of reading, as we witness as the fine grains of Roy and Celestial's marriage begin to course between their fingers. As the long year begin to stretch both of them thin. As they are left them waiting, trapped and uncertain, on the borders of an as-yet-uncharted future looming out of the fog. After five years of purgatory, Roy is acquitted, but freedom has never tasted so much like ashes. Something has been lost in the long gulf of Roy and Celestial’s separation, something irretrievable, something neither of them is sure they wanted back.
An American Marriage is a luminous, viscerally potent exploration of a very difficult marriage between two complicated people who are exhausted from their own efforts to become something more than a consequence, and who are most married where it counted most: in the horrors they have shared.
Jones lures you into Roy and Celestial’s lives only to do terrible, wonderful things to your head and heart. Reading this book, I was struck sometimes by the senseless idea that everything around me was made of glass. Celestial and Roy walked the floor of their relationship like tightrope performers, placing each foot gingerly in front of the other, testing for weaknesses, waiting for the moment when the whole thing eventually gives way.
It would’ve been so easy to call sides, to pick a favorite character and place the weight of the blame on the other. But Jones makes it impossible to do so. Instead, as the story corkscrews into a tighter and tighter coil, the reader is forced to confront what Celestial and Roy really owe each other, and if the answer could really be that simple. Roy was violently robbed of something he could never get back, and to survive, he’s convinced himself that the door he and Celestial have created between them long ago would always open at his knock. Celestial was robbed too, but if what had been taken from Celestial could never amount to what had been taken from Roy, was it selfishness to refuse to wait in an agony of wondering? Or is it selfishness to expect her to wait in the first place? Ultimately, this is what holds steady throughout the novel: Jones gives us a truth that is messy and nuanced and complex and sometimes even contradictory, and she yields no easy answers.
At its core, An American Marriage is a love story, but reading this book, it's impossible to escape its condemnation of America’s profoundly flawed system of justice. Even when justice was eventually served, it was a kind of escape, but it mocked freedom. Justice was not going to bring back Roy’s lost years. It was not going to change the past, but it will forever define it. Jones tells you that maybe it doesn’t have to define the future too. Roy's present might be overlaid with past sorrow, but he was free, and the future from that perch was at least visible.
December 12, 2019
A couple years ago, Melinda and I visited a state prison in Georgia as part of our foundation’s work on U.S. poverty. I’d never been to a prison before, and it was an eye-opening experience.
The most memorable part was the discussion we had with some of the inmates about transitioning back into society. Although most were looking forward to leaving prison behind, some were clearly anxious about it. One man told us he was scared to re-enter society after so many years behind bars. Another mentioned that it felt like he was a car about to be dropped into the middle of a racetrack where the other cars are already going 200 miles per hour.
I couldn’t help but think about that conversation when I was reading An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. Although it’s fictional, the story is about the question at the heart of the anxiety Melinda and I saw that day: how do you rebuild your life after prison?
Our daughter Jenn recommended that we read this deeply moving story about how one incident of injustice reshapes the lives of a black couple in the South and eventually dooms their relationship. Roy and Celestial are newlyweds living in Atlanta. They seemed to have it all: good careers, a decent house, and a lot of love for one another (although their marriage wasn’t perfect).
That all changes when Roy gets falsely accused of rape and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Despite how radically this event changes their lives, Jones doesn’t spend much time on it. She devotes only five pages to Roy’s arrest and trial. Her message is clear: Roy is innocent, Celestial knows it, and neither fact matters. He’s caught up in the system regardless.
What Jones is more interested in is how incarceration changes relationships. About half of the book is letters exchanged between Roy and Celestial while he’s locked up. Although they start out sweetly, the letters become more tense as time goes on. Eventually, Celestial stops writing to Roy altogether. By the time he gets released from prison seven years early, she’s moved on. (I promise this isn’t a spoiler. It’s in the book’s jacket description!)
There’s this mythical notion that you’ll wait forever for the person you love. Penelope from the Odyssey is the classic example—she fights off potential suitors for 20 years waiting for her husband, Odysseus, to return from war.
It’s a romantic idea, but is it realistic? Jones doesn’t seem to think so. We all like to imagine we’d be Penelope in that situation, but I suspect many would end up like Celestial instead. She writes to Roy, “You may feel like you’re carrying a burden, but I shoulder a load as well.” Later, she says, “A marriage is more than your heart, it’s your life. And we are not sharing ours.”
The fact that their marriage didn’t have a fairytale ending felt realistic. Roy’s unjust incarceration—and the separation it caused—pushed on the seams that already existed in their relationship, and eventually those seams broke. Despite her decision to leave him, Celestial is a sympathetic character. You understand why she made her choice.
An American Marriage is fundamentally a story about how incarceration hurts more than just the person locked up. It’s also a reminder of how draconian our criminal justice system can be—especially for black men like Roy. Once you get sucked into that system, you’re marked for life. Everything you were or had can disappear while you’re in prison.
In a letter to his lawyer, Roy writes about how things have been difficult for Celestial but even more difficult for him. “I try to see her side of things, but it’s hard to weep for anyone who is out in the world living their dream,” he says.
Jones is such a good writer that you can’t help but empathize with Roy and Celestial. Both have been put into a super-difficult position. I obviously haven’t experienced what they go through, but the characters—and their reactions to the situation—ring true to me.
I wouldn’t say An American Marriage is a light, easy read, but it’s so well-written that you’ll find yourself sucked into it despite the heavy subject matter. If you’re looking for something thought-provoking to read this winter, you should add this one to your list.
The most memorable part was the discussion we had with some of the inmates about transitioning back into society. Although most were looking forward to leaving prison behind, some were clearly anxious about it. One man told us he was scared to re-enter society after so many years behind bars. Another mentioned that it felt like he was a car about to be dropped into the middle of a racetrack where the other cars are already going 200 miles per hour.
I couldn’t help but think about that conversation when I was reading An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. Although it’s fictional, the story is about the question at the heart of the anxiety Melinda and I saw that day: how do you rebuild your life after prison?
Our daughter Jenn recommended that we read this deeply moving story about how one incident of injustice reshapes the lives of a black couple in the South and eventually dooms their relationship. Roy and Celestial are newlyweds living in Atlanta. They seemed to have it all: good careers, a decent house, and a lot of love for one another (although their marriage wasn’t perfect).
That all changes when Roy gets falsely accused of rape and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Despite how radically this event changes their lives, Jones doesn’t spend much time on it. She devotes only five pages to Roy’s arrest and trial. Her message is clear: Roy is innocent, Celestial knows it, and neither fact matters. He’s caught up in the system regardless.
What Jones is more interested in is how incarceration changes relationships. About half of the book is letters exchanged between Roy and Celestial while he’s locked up. Although they start out sweetly, the letters become more tense as time goes on. Eventually, Celestial stops writing to Roy altogether. By the time he gets released from prison seven years early, she’s moved on. (I promise this isn’t a spoiler. It’s in the book’s jacket description!)
There’s this mythical notion that you’ll wait forever for the person you love. Penelope from the Odyssey is the classic example—she fights off potential suitors for 20 years waiting for her husband, Odysseus, to return from war.
It’s a romantic idea, but is it realistic? Jones doesn’t seem to think so. We all like to imagine we’d be Penelope in that situation, but I suspect many would end up like Celestial instead. She writes to Roy, “You may feel like you’re carrying a burden, but I shoulder a load as well.” Later, she says, “A marriage is more than your heart, it’s your life. And we are not sharing ours.”
The fact that their marriage didn’t have a fairytale ending felt realistic. Roy’s unjust incarceration—and the separation it caused—pushed on the seams that already existed in their relationship, and eventually those seams broke. Despite her decision to leave him, Celestial is a sympathetic character. You understand why she made her choice.
An American Marriage is fundamentally a story about how incarceration hurts more than just the person locked up. It’s also a reminder of how draconian our criminal justice system can be—especially for black men like Roy. Once you get sucked into that system, you’re marked for life. Everything you were or had can disappear while you’re in prison.
In a letter to his lawyer, Roy writes about how things have been difficult for Celestial but even more difficult for him. “I try to see her side of things, but it’s hard to weep for anyone who is out in the world living their dream,” he says.
Jones is such a good writer that you can’t help but empathize with Roy and Celestial. Both have been put into a super-difficult position. I obviously haven’t experienced what they go through, but the characters—and their reactions to the situation—ring true to me.
I wouldn’t say An American Marriage is a light, easy read, but it’s so well-written that you’ll find yourself sucked into it despite the heavy subject matter. If you’re looking for something thought-provoking to read this winter, you should add this one to your list.
February 23, 2018
Much of life is timing and circumstance, I see that now.
I know it's still early, but I've got a feeling this is going to be one of my favourite reads of 2018. It is a powerful, subtle, sad tale about the criminal justice system in America, and the personal, long-term consequences of its injustices.
There's a lot of discussion, articles and fiction looking at race-based injustice in the prison system of the United States. Most of these focus on racial-profiling of young black men, and how juries are more likely to convict a black man than a white man when presented with the same evidence. An American Marriage, though, does something a bit different.
While race - specifically, being a black American - is one of the major pillars of the novel, it is not so much the focus as the stage on which this tale of love, marriage and loyalty plays out. Instead of looking at the injustice itself, the novel turns to the far-reaching consequences of it - how lives are turned upside down and relationships fall apart as a result. It is driven by complex and fascinating character drama, moving between the perspectives of the entirely non-white cast to create a character portrait that is both broad and deep.
Roy is a hard-working, entrepreneurial black man who has clawed his way out of a working-class background, earned a scholarship to college, and married a middle-class artist, Celestial. Next step: starting a family together. Then, during a trip back home to Louisiana, Roy is accused and convicted of a crime he didn't commit.
As the first person narrative gives way to an epistolary format during Roy's time in prison, we see how Roy's incarceration drives a wedge between him and Celestial. An American Marriage asks us to consider what it really means to be married, and whether there comes a point when loyalty can no longer be expected.
We are ultimately reminded that injustices against innocent black men are injustices against many others - the wives or husbands, the mothers and fathers, and the friends who love them. Jones sheds a haunting light on the all-encompassing nature of racial injustice. It is extremely effective.
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February 10, 2018
2.5 stars
I know this book is getting a lot of buzz and it was Oprah's Book Club pick so I had really high hopes but it didn't really work for me. I started to give it 3 stars but after thinking more on it I just couldn't. For me, a 3-star rating means that overall I enjoyed the book. However, this book just didn't rise to that level.
I'll start with what I did like. I liked how the author weaved in the complexities of being a successful black American. Roy was a rising business executive but because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and fit a certain description his life/marriage was upended. The first part of the book is in epistolary form where we see the letter exchanges between Celestial and Roy while he was prison. In those letters you can see the slow changes in their relationship as time went on. This is basically the only part of the book where I felt any semblance of a connection to the story.
Now for what I didn't like ... the characters. I didn't connect to Roy or Celestial so I didn't feel invested in their story. Also, I understand that life and marriages can be messy and that some decisions we make aren't always cut and dry. But some of the decisions that Celestial and Roy were making were nonsensical to me and not fully explained. Particularly in Celestial's case toward the end of the book. I didn't understand her. Maybe I'm missing something.
Overall, I didn't have a strong emotional connection to the story. I'm sure many people will love this book but it wasn't for me.
I know this book is getting a lot of buzz and it was Oprah's Book Club pick so I had really high hopes but it didn't really work for me. I started to give it 3 stars but after thinking more on it I just couldn't. For me, a 3-star rating means that overall I enjoyed the book. However, this book just didn't rise to that level.
I'll start with what I did like. I liked how the author weaved in the complexities of being a successful black American. Roy was a rising business executive but because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and fit a certain description his life/marriage was upended. The first part of the book is in epistolary form where we see the letter exchanges between Celestial and Roy while he was prison. In those letters you can see the slow changes in their relationship as time went on. This is basically the only part of the book where I felt any semblance of a connection to the story.
Now for what I didn't like ... the characters. I didn't connect to Roy or Celestial so I didn't feel invested in their story. Also, I understand that life and marriages can be messy and that some decisions we make aren't always cut and dry. But some of the decisions that Celestial and Roy were making were nonsensical to me and not fully explained. Particularly in Celestial's case toward the end of the book. I didn't understand her. Maybe I'm missing something.
Overall, I didn't have a strong emotional connection to the story. I'm sure many people will love this book but it wasn't for me.
March 28, 2018
I can’t say that I loved An American Marriage. What I can say, is that it made me think deeply about human nature, love, and, of course, marriage.
This is a thought-provoking, well-written, depth-filled character study about a marriage on the brink.
Celestial and Roy, a young couple from Atlanta, have been married for just over a year when Roy is arrested and sentenced to 12 years in jail. Will their marriage survive their separation or will they be able to withstand Roy’s incarceration? The bulk of the story focuses on a love triangle between Roy, Celestial, and Celestial’s childhood friend, Andre. In addition to romantic love and marriage, themes of motherhood and fatherhood, race, class, and tradition also play prominent roles.
Told in alternating point of views, as well as through letters, the devolution of Roy and Celestial’s marriage is revealed through their letters. Some of the events are hard to read, and at times, made me a little uncomfortable.
This is not a pretty read, nor is it one that is filled with action. What it does have are three very real, well-drawn out characters who are struggling with both the choices that they have made and not being able to change what they cannot control. I felt their pain, their emotions permeate the pages, and even though I didn’t always agree with them, I understood their choice(s). The ending felt authentic and while some might not like the way how things play out, I was satisfied. This is a credit to Jones who paints an honest picture of the characters and events that occur.
This is a thought-provoking, well-written, depth-filled character study about a marriage on the brink.
Celestial and Roy, a young couple from Atlanta, have been married for just over a year when Roy is arrested and sentenced to 12 years in jail. Will their marriage survive their separation or will they be able to withstand Roy’s incarceration? The bulk of the story focuses on a love triangle between Roy, Celestial, and Celestial’s childhood friend, Andre. In addition to romantic love and marriage, themes of motherhood and fatherhood, race, class, and tradition also play prominent roles.
Told in alternating point of views, as well as through letters, the devolution of Roy and Celestial’s marriage is revealed through their letters. Some of the events are hard to read, and at times, made me a little uncomfortable.
This is not a pretty read, nor is it one that is filled with action. What it does have are three very real, well-drawn out characters who are struggling with both the choices that they have made and not being able to change what they cannot control. I felt their pain, their emotions permeate the pages, and even though I didn’t always agree with them, I understood their choice(s). The ending felt authentic and while some might not like the way how things play out, I was satisfied. This is a credit to Jones who paints an honest picture of the characters and events that occur.
February 18, 2018
I cannot, for the life of me, understand why people like this book. If it weren’t for Oprah loving it, I honestly do not think people would buy it. There was no plot and it is the most boring book I’ve ever read. Basically if you read the synopsis, you’ve read all the “exciting” parts and know the entire plot. It’s technically an easy read but boring overall. I powered through to finish it since it has so many positive reviews, with the hopes that it would suddenly turn around or have an amazing ending that would make it worth reading. Major disappointment.
June 20, 2018
Edited 9/20 to add: My book club discussed this last night and while not everyone loved the book (but no one disliked it), it made for a lively and interesting discussion. I'd highly recommend for book clubs.
I’m afraid I’m in the outlier club with this one.
What I liked:
- The writing is gorgeous. 4-5 stars for the beauty of the prose. Plus the author writes in a way that sounds like the way real people think and talk
- The letters Celestial and Roy exchanged
- How one unfortunate tragic event, unfair as it was, can totally change the trajectory of your life. It gives food for thought.
- it was thought-provoking with complex moral themes surrounding loyalty and marriage
What I didn’t like:
- The characters. While I sympathized with their plight I just didn’t like them. Which I can’t explain because I usually like my characters somewhat complicated and flawed. Unlikability is not a deal breaker, but I like what I like and often I can’t even explain why I am so turned off by some characters.
- The plot – after the beginning I just stopped caring. It felt like I was reading the script of a cheesy movie. There’s a time and place for cheesy, it just wasn’t what I was expecting when I went into this book.
- The epilogue! My eyes may have rolled more than once.
I will definitely read anything else the author writes because I found this book so well-written and her style so engaging, but this one just didn't quite work for me. It all boiled down to plot.
I’m afraid I’m in the outlier club with this one.
What I liked:
- The writing is gorgeous. 4-5 stars for the beauty of the prose. Plus the author writes in a way that sounds like the way real people think and talk
- The letters Celestial and Roy exchanged
- How one unfortunate tragic event, unfair as it was, can totally change the trajectory of your life. It gives food for thought.
- it was thought-provoking with complex moral themes surrounding loyalty and marriage
What I didn’t like:
- The characters. While I sympathized with their plight I just didn’t like them. Which I can’t explain because I usually like my characters somewhat complicated and flawed. Unlikability is not a deal breaker, but I like what I like and often I can’t even explain why I am so turned off by some characters.
- The plot – after the beginning I just stopped caring. It felt like I was reading the script of a cheesy movie. There’s a time and place for cheesy, it just wasn’t what I was expecting when I went into this book.
- The epilogue! My eyes may have rolled more than once.
I will definitely read anything else the author writes because I found this book so well-written and her style so engaging, but this one just didn't quite work for me. It all boiled down to plot.
February 22, 2018
4.5 stars, rounded up.
For the latest resurrection of her book club, Oprah chose Tayari Jones' latest novel, An American Marriage. Raw, powerful, full of searing emotion, this is a book which speaks not only to the relationship between man and woman, husband and wife, but it touches on the bond between parents and their children, even in adulthood, and the mercurial nature of life.
"Love makes a place in your life, it makes a place for itself in your bed. Invisibly, it makes a place in your body, rerouting all your blood vessels, throbbing right alongside your heart. When it's gone, nothing is whole again."
Celestial and Roy first meet in college, he being the somewhat-smooth acquaintance of her childhood friend, Andre. Although Roy is attracted to Celestial almost instantaneously, she's less impressed with him. But when they meet again a few years later in New York, the two fall in love. Roy is drawn to her creativity and her fierce sense of independence, while she is impressed that he knows just what he wants from life, including her.
The two settle in Atlanta. Roy starts becoming a successful sales executive, while Celestial's art career is on the verge of taking off. Their marriage isn't without its bumps, as the couple starts talking about whether or not to have a baby. But one night, everything changes. Roy is accused of committing a crime Celestial knows he is innocent of, and he is sentenced to a 12-year prison sentence.
"Looking back on it, it's like watching a horror flick and wondering why the characters are so determined to ignore the danger signs. When a spectral voice says, get out, you should do it. But in real life, you don't know that you're in a scary movie. You think your wife is being overly emotional. You quietly hope that it's because she's pregnant, because a baby is what you need to lock this thing in and throw away the key."
Celestial doesn't know how to deal with a husband in prison, and she's not sure she knows how to be alone. Although she loves Roy, she starts spending more and more time with Andre, who has loved her from afar (and closer than that) for as long as he can remember. Roy struggles with the idea of spending 12 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, and finds it difficult to be so isolated as the outside world keeps marching on. He vacillates between wanting Celestial to wait the 12 years for him and wanting her to go on with her life.
Five years into his sentence, Roy is unexpectedly released. He finds that life is very different in so many ways, even just five years later. He is unsure what to expect from his marriage—although he and Celestial had difficult times while he was in prison, she never filed for divorce, so he wonders if he has a chance to resume their life together. She is caught between the love she knew, the one she felt tethered to, and the love that gives her security she has always craved. But which one is right for her?
Narrated in alternating chapters by Roy, Celestial, and Andre, An American Marriage is a searing portrait of the ragged ways we fall in and out of love. Jones is such a talented writer, and you actually feel the same dilemmas faced by her characters. She has such an ear for dialogue, for capturing emotion, and for showing how our relationships can both make us feel safe and make us come undone.
As complex as these characters are, none of them are completely sympathetic, and Jones doesn't force you to choose a side in this struggle. There was an instance when I thought the plot would veer into utter melodrama and tread a path I've seen too many times, but Jones showed some restraint, thankfully. I wasn't sure if I liked any of the characters fully, but I was still utterly engrossed in their lives.
"You can never really unlove somebody. Maybe it changes shape, but it's there."
This book really was excellent. It makes you think while it tugs at your emotions, and that felt very fulfilling. And once again, this book proves Oprah knows how to pick 'em.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com, or check out my list of the best books I read in 2017 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2017.html.
For the latest resurrection of her book club, Oprah chose Tayari Jones' latest novel, An American Marriage. Raw, powerful, full of searing emotion, this is a book which speaks not only to the relationship between man and woman, husband and wife, but it touches on the bond between parents and their children, even in adulthood, and the mercurial nature of life.
"Love makes a place in your life, it makes a place for itself in your bed. Invisibly, it makes a place in your body, rerouting all your blood vessels, throbbing right alongside your heart. When it's gone, nothing is whole again."
Celestial and Roy first meet in college, he being the somewhat-smooth acquaintance of her childhood friend, Andre. Although Roy is attracted to Celestial almost instantaneously, she's less impressed with him. But when they meet again a few years later in New York, the two fall in love. Roy is drawn to her creativity and her fierce sense of independence, while she is impressed that he knows just what he wants from life, including her.
The two settle in Atlanta. Roy starts becoming a successful sales executive, while Celestial's art career is on the verge of taking off. Their marriage isn't without its bumps, as the couple starts talking about whether or not to have a baby. But one night, everything changes. Roy is accused of committing a crime Celestial knows he is innocent of, and he is sentenced to a 12-year prison sentence.
"Looking back on it, it's like watching a horror flick and wondering why the characters are so determined to ignore the danger signs. When a spectral voice says, get out, you should do it. But in real life, you don't know that you're in a scary movie. You think your wife is being overly emotional. You quietly hope that it's because she's pregnant, because a baby is what you need to lock this thing in and throw away the key."
Celestial doesn't know how to deal with a husband in prison, and she's not sure she knows how to be alone. Although she loves Roy, she starts spending more and more time with Andre, who has loved her from afar (and closer than that) for as long as he can remember. Roy struggles with the idea of spending 12 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, and finds it difficult to be so isolated as the outside world keeps marching on. He vacillates between wanting Celestial to wait the 12 years for him and wanting her to go on with her life.
Five years into his sentence, Roy is unexpectedly released. He finds that life is very different in so many ways, even just five years later. He is unsure what to expect from his marriage—although he and Celestial had difficult times while he was in prison, she never filed for divorce, so he wonders if he has a chance to resume their life together. She is caught between the love she knew, the one she felt tethered to, and the love that gives her security she has always craved. But which one is right for her?
Narrated in alternating chapters by Roy, Celestial, and Andre, An American Marriage is a searing portrait of the ragged ways we fall in and out of love. Jones is such a talented writer, and you actually feel the same dilemmas faced by her characters. She has such an ear for dialogue, for capturing emotion, and for showing how our relationships can both make us feel safe and make us come undone.
As complex as these characters are, none of them are completely sympathetic, and Jones doesn't force you to choose a side in this struggle. There was an instance when I thought the plot would veer into utter melodrama and tread a path I've seen too many times, but Jones showed some restraint, thankfully. I wasn't sure if I liked any of the characters fully, but I was still utterly engrossed in their lives.
"You can never really unlove somebody. Maybe it changes shape, but it's there."
This book really was excellent. It makes you think while it tugs at your emotions, and that felt very fulfilling. And once again, this book proves Oprah knows how to pick 'em.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com, or check out my list of the best books I read in 2017 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2017.html.
November 3, 2019
Update: 2018 National Book Awards: Fiction
Another great choice pick this year!!!
SMALL UPDATE: I said I would come back and write a more complete review... but a few comments in here have inspired and encouraged me ... to perhaps leave this review alone.
So.., I’ll only add a couple of things.
Sharing First: it’s funny - what happens to our minds when we move on right away to reading other books after a deep thought- provoking read...
It’s like ADDING more children to the family - expanding our heart to love and think about each one - differently- but each so special.
Recently it’s been like a grand slam rocking hot reading explosion experience.
It started with “The Weight of Ink” by Rachel Radish..(which I still think about)...
And THIS book...( which I still think about)
and now two others: “Fair and Tender Ladies” by Lee Smith
and
“The Gunners” by Rebecca Kauffman
BOTH of these two books I’m currently reading are EACH SOO GOOD - it’s a race to the finish line - as to which I’ll finish first... as I’m now so ‘deeply’ involved- in ecstasy reading both books (Listening to “The Gunners” during the day.. reading “Fair and Tender Ladies at night and middle of the night)
My mind is swimming with wonderful feelings and thoughts and experiences of great created characters from our books
Little friends in our head.
So... there are MANY VARIED REVIEWS on
“THE AMERICAN MARRIAGE”....
I’m only going to add one more final thought:
Opinion really!
I honestly believe there is something of great value in this book for: women- men- married or single - black - white - any nationality- all legal adult ages - young 20’s on up.
I mentioned in my little review that this book is a great ‘ examination of marriage...
I ALSO think it’s a great discussion whether or not to MARRY or NOT in this day and age.
There is ‘something’ ( no spoilers) - to pay close attention to at the beginning of this book... BEFORE MARRIAGE...
We’ve ALL had those experiences where our gut is warning us — something doesn’t feel right - our souls don’t feel secure & safe—
but then as thinking beings— we’ve intellectualized the situation and let it go...
only later to kick ourselves for not taking the GUT MESSAGE more serious.
There was a ‘red flag’ moment in this story ..that I knew was going to come back to ‘haunt’ ... and it did.
My heart ached at that moment.
The ending of this book is also powerful - and in my opinion clearly sends a message.
Not only had every character been broken— but culture conditions of injustice proved to be devastating too. EVERYONE WAS AFFECTED FROM THE HORRIFIC INJUSTICE...
but sadly - facing reality—
personal problems didn’t get swept under the rug.
Small problems didn’t get replaced with bigger ones.
Brene Brown talks about learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
“The American Marriage” plays out those type of dialogues of communication. Characters were practicing being comfortable with very uncomfortable communication.
Truthful dialogue surfaced through letters. Later, face to face.
Original... little review:
Phenomenal intimate gut-wrenching storytelling. Every character has been wounded. Their struggles are REAL.
Personally I had empathy for everyone— but I can understand if readers favor one character over another. There are complex uncomfortable situations throughout.
I could imagine how each person felt from their point of view. I felt those emotions, too.
This novel is definitely a ‘discussion’ book...
an examination of marriage: what happens when horrific circumstances literally change the direction of life? EVERYONE IS AFFECTED!
EVERYONE reacts differently!
I’ve much admiration for the wisdom —the depths — of understanding that Jones has for all the many types of relationships we have in our lives.
I need to get some sleep ...I’ll continue the rest of this review tomorrow or over the weekend.
Another great choice pick this year!!!
SMALL UPDATE: I said I would come back and write a more complete review... but a few comments in here have inspired and encouraged me ... to perhaps leave this review alone.
So.., I’ll only add a couple of things.
Sharing First: it’s funny - what happens to our minds when we move on right away to reading other books after a deep thought- provoking read...
It’s like ADDING more children to the family - expanding our heart to love and think about each one - differently- but each so special.
Recently it’s been like a grand slam rocking hot reading explosion experience.
It started with “The Weight of Ink” by Rachel Radish..(which I still think about)...
And THIS book...( which I still think about)
and now two others: “Fair and Tender Ladies” by Lee Smith
and
“The Gunners” by Rebecca Kauffman
BOTH of these two books I’m currently reading are EACH SOO GOOD - it’s a race to the finish line - as to which I’ll finish first... as I’m now so ‘deeply’ involved- in ecstasy reading both books (Listening to “The Gunners” during the day.. reading “Fair and Tender Ladies at night and middle of the night)
My mind is swimming with wonderful feelings and thoughts and experiences of great created characters from our books
Little friends in our head.
So... there are MANY VARIED REVIEWS on
“THE AMERICAN MARRIAGE”....
I’m only going to add one more final thought:
Opinion really!
I honestly believe there is something of great value in this book for: women- men- married or single - black - white - any nationality- all legal adult ages - young 20’s on up.
I mentioned in my little review that this book is a great ‘ examination of marriage...
I ALSO think it’s a great discussion whether or not to MARRY or NOT in this day and age.
There is ‘something’ ( no spoilers) - to pay close attention to at the beginning of this book... BEFORE MARRIAGE...
We’ve ALL had those experiences where our gut is warning us — something doesn’t feel right - our souls don’t feel secure & safe—
but then as thinking beings— we’ve intellectualized the situation and let it go...
only later to kick ourselves for not taking the GUT MESSAGE more serious.
There was a ‘red flag’ moment in this story ..that I knew was going to come back to ‘haunt’ ... and it did.
My heart ached at that moment.
The ending of this book is also powerful - and in my opinion clearly sends a message.
Not only had every character been broken— but culture conditions of injustice proved to be devastating too. EVERYONE WAS AFFECTED FROM THE HORRIFIC INJUSTICE...
but sadly - facing reality—
personal problems didn’t get swept under the rug.
Small problems didn’t get replaced with bigger ones.
Brene Brown talks about learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
“The American Marriage” plays out those type of dialogues of communication. Characters were practicing being comfortable with very uncomfortable communication.
Truthful dialogue surfaced through letters. Later, face to face.
Original... little review:
Phenomenal intimate gut-wrenching storytelling. Every character has been wounded. Their struggles are REAL.
Personally I had empathy for everyone— but I can understand if readers favor one character over another. There are complex uncomfortable situations throughout.
I could imagine how each person felt from their point of view. I felt those emotions, too.
This novel is definitely a ‘discussion’ book...
an examination of marriage: what happens when horrific circumstances literally change the direction of life? EVERYONE IS AFFECTED!
EVERYONE reacts differently!
I’ve much admiration for the wisdom —the depths — of understanding that Jones has for all the many types of relationships we have in our lives.
I need to get some sleep ...I’ll continue the rest of this review tomorrow or over the weekend.
February 24, 2018
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones is a 2018 Algonquin Books publication.
Well drawn characterizations and a thought provoking and timely topic combines to make a potent blend, which kept me riveted to the pages of this book.
Roy had done everything right, is successful, married to a beautiful woman, living the American dream- until he is falsely accused of rape and sent to prison.
Celestial finds her comfortable life turned on its axis after Roy is incarcerated. She remains loyal to her husband, but as the years pass, her life continues to move forward, while Roy’s stagnates behind bars, and her feelings for him begin to wane, prompting her to seek comfort from another man.
Meanwhile, lawyers are working round the clock to get Roy’s conviction overturned- which miraculously, after serving five years, it is!!
But, Roy, soon learns that easing back into his former life and resuming his marriage with Celestial is easier said than done.
What stands out for me in this novel, are the little nuances. Roy, who opens the dialogue in the first chapter, drew me in with his honesty, and humor, which was occasionally sheepish and self- deprecating, even though I disapproved of some of his actions.
Celestial was, for some reason, a character I found difficult to warm up to at first, but upon reflection, I think her character may have gone through the most productive growth of all.
Celestial’s needs and expectations are different from Roy’s ideals, some of which can be attributed to male/female roles and expectations in a marriage, and others to their own individuality. But, throw in a HUGE live altering test of the marriage and it will either strengthen or fall apart. Which way did things go for Roy and Celestial?
The other timely topics explored have to do with racism and mass incarceration. Prison life is fraught with danger and loneliness, and of course Roy missed his former life, but it was simple things, things we so easily take for granted that makes the bleakness of his situation come alive.
Despite their flaws, and each party has their fair share of them, they were basically ordinary people thrown in an extraordinary circumstance and left to cope with those circumstances as best they could. They were both human, with real needs, desires, hopes, and dreams. Both made excuses, both played the blame game, but both have a bond together they find hard to break free of.
The epistolary parts of the novel were well done, which exposes both the closeness and the awkwardness of the marriage, but also the way time robbed them of the growth marriages need to survive.
The secondary characters were added depth and conflict and were also very well drawn, and equally affected by the outcome of Roy and Celetial's marriage.
While the book is not filled with action or suspense, or even, despite the heaviness of the situation, is it melodramatic, with one exception, that, to be honest, almost had to happen, to break the tension that boiled to the surface. There were a few tense moments that made me pretty uncomfortable, but mostly the author just allowed the characters to flow, to take charge, and dictate the pacing. This approach sounds understated and maybe even underwhelming, but this story was incredibly absorbing, and I have to say the conclusion was surprising- but at the same time- not. Despite some misgivings and mixed emotions about how the characters ended up, overall, I think they may be exactly where they need to be, both as individuals and as a couple. It may be tempting to take sides, but I can’t say I would do better or worse in that same situation, but I did struggle with passing judgments on occasion.
Either way, this is a well written examination of relationships and human foibles, and how otherwise normal, well intentioned, good people face adversity and come out on the other end of it changed, for better or worse.
4 stars
Well drawn characterizations and a thought provoking and timely topic combines to make a potent blend, which kept me riveted to the pages of this book.
Roy had done everything right, is successful, married to a beautiful woman, living the American dream- until he is falsely accused of rape and sent to prison.
Celestial finds her comfortable life turned on its axis after Roy is incarcerated. She remains loyal to her husband, but as the years pass, her life continues to move forward, while Roy’s stagnates behind bars, and her feelings for him begin to wane, prompting her to seek comfort from another man.
Meanwhile, lawyers are working round the clock to get Roy’s conviction overturned- which miraculously, after serving five years, it is!!
But, Roy, soon learns that easing back into his former life and resuming his marriage with Celestial is easier said than done.
What stands out for me in this novel, are the little nuances. Roy, who opens the dialogue in the first chapter, drew me in with his honesty, and humor, which was occasionally sheepish and self- deprecating, even though I disapproved of some of his actions.
Celestial was, for some reason, a character I found difficult to warm up to at first, but upon reflection, I think her character may have gone through the most productive growth of all.
Celestial’s needs and expectations are different from Roy’s ideals, some of which can be attributed to male/female roles and expectations in a marriage, and others to their own individuality. But, throw in a HUGE live altering test of the marriage and it will either strengthen or fall apart. Which way did things go for Roy and Celestial?
The other timely topics explored have to do with racism and mass incarceration. Prison life is fraught with danger and loneliness, and of course Roy missed his former life, but it was simple things, things we so easily take for granted that makes the bleakness of his situation come alive.
Despite their flaws, and each party has their fair share of them, they were basically ordinary people thrown in an extraordinary circumstance and left to cope with those circumstances as best they could. They were both human, with real needs, desires, hopes, and dreams. Both made excuses, both played the blame game, but both have a bond together they find hard to break free of.
The epistolary parts of the novel were well done, which exposes both the closeness and the awkwardness of the marriage, but also the way time robbed them of the growth marriages need to survive.
The secondary characters were added depth and conflict and were also very well drawn, and equally affected by the outcome of Roy and Celetial's marriage.
While the book is not filled with action or suspense, or even, despite the heaviness of the situation, is it melodramatic, with one exception, that, to be honest, almost had to happen, to break the tension that boiled to the surface. There were a few tense moments that made me pretty uncomfortable, but mostly the author just allowed the characters to flow, to take charge, and dictate the pacing. This approach sounds understated and maybe even underwhelming, but this story was incredibly absorbing, and I have to say the conclusion was surprising- but at the same time- not. Despite some misgivings and mixed emotions about how the characters ended up, overall, I think they may be exactly where they need to be, both as individuals and as a couple. It may be tempting to take sides, but I can’t say I would do better or worse in that same situation, but I did struggle with passing judgments on occasion.
Either way, this is a well written examination of relationships and human foibles, and how otherwise normal, well intentioned, good people face adversity and come out on the other end of it changed, for better or worse.
4 stars
February 10, 2018
Is it possible that in mid-February I’ve already read my favorite book of 2018? An American Marriage was outstanding. Not only did I immediately become hooked and stay invested in the story, the quality of the writing was pure excellence.
A newlywed couple, Roy and Celestial, are early on in their marriage when Roy is sentenced to 12 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. This changes the course of their lives and feelings, and the story unfolds from here. Roy’s conviction is overturned 5 years into his sentence too, changing things once again.
”But home isn’t where you land; home is where you launch. You can’t pick your home any more than you can choose your family. In poker, you get five cards. Three of them you can swap out, but two are yours to keep: family and native land.”
There were different points in the book where I disliked all three of the primary characters, however I was so engrossed I had to keep reading to find out how this story would play out. I feel like there was excess in trying to frame Celestial as an independent woman though - Outside of a professional sense, I didn’t find her to be that independent at all. Her actions, to me, definitely indicated otherwise. I liked that while Roy and Celestial were both adults, their parents still played a central role in the story. I also enjoyed the many authentic Atlanta references throughout the book.
”But how you feel love and how you understand love are two different things. ... Human emotion is beyond comprehension, smooth and uninterrupted, like an orb made of blown glass.”
An American Marriage portrays realistic behaviors and actions people experience, themselves and through others, and this is why I enjoyed it so immensely. While I just didn’t want it to end, I really liked the ending.
A newlywed couple, Roy and Celestial, are early on in their marriage when Roy is sentenced to 12 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. This changes the course of their lives and feelings, and the story unfolds from here. Roy’s conviction is overturned 5 years into his sentence too, changing things once again.
”But home isn’t where you land; home is where you launch. You can’t pick your home any more than you can choose your family. In poker, you get five cards. Three of them you can swap out, but two are yours to keep: family and native land.”
There were different points in the book where I disliked all three of the primary characters, however I was so engrossed I had to keep reading to find out how this story would play out. I feel like there was excess in trying to frame Celestial as an independent woman though - Outside of a professional sense, I didn’t find her to be that independent at all. Her actions, to me, definitely indicated otherwise. I liked that while Roy and Celestial were both adults, their parents still played a central role in the story. I also enjoyed the many authentic Atlanta references throughout the book.
”But how you feel love and how you understand love are two different things. ... Human emotion is beyond comprehension, smooth and uninterrupted, like an orb made of blown glass.”
An American Marriage portrays realistic behaviors and actions people experience, themselves and through others, and this is why I enjoyed it so immensely. While I just didn’t want it to end, I really liked the ending.
March 25, 2018
I decided to pick up An American Marriage because Tayari Jones has a fun instagram. Also in her By The Book in the New York Times she recounts that she once accepted a gig in Dubai just because the flight gave her nineteen uninterrupted hours of reading time. I love that. She seems like such a fun and likeable person. Therefore it really does hurt to write that An American Marriage savagely disappointed me.
The novel concerns a married couple, Roy and Celestial, who live a fairly normal life until Roy is sent to jail for allegedly raping another woman. Whilst in jail, Roy and Celestial try to keep the marriage going as normal but when Celestial experiences surprise success with her doll company everything between our couple begins to buckle and wane.
I’ll begin with what I admired about this novel. I adore Jones’ turn of phrase. She has a very biting and almost sarcastic writing style which complements the plot well. Take this little sentence, which I loved, for example:
‘“Who are these men?” the white cop asked me. His accent was thick and gooey, all Marietta, turn left at the Big Chicken.’
Isn’t that just wonderful? There’s little lines like that strewn throughout the novel like confetti.
The novel is also very well structured. It employs three narrators, each rewarded a perspective, as the plot flows through their voices. Oftentimes I’m quite ‘meh’ about constantly changing perspectives but Jones makes it work flawlessly. She has a real master touch.
However, no matter how much I polish it up, there’s no helping the plot of An American Marriage. Oprah recently chose this novel as her book club choice and, no offence to Oprah (I mean, she did get your aunt to read Anna Karenina) but this novel is such an Oprah Book Club pick.
This novel reeks of Lifetime Original Movie. There are some moments that are just achingly sentimental whilst Jones often seeps into melodrama. The climax of the novel, a scene which I won’t spoil but tree huggers beware, was meant to be this great symbolic event in which every bottled emotion is finally unleashed. And I found myself… howling. Just howling at the utter ridiculousness of it. Talk about forcing a metaphor. Jeez.
Thankfully this novel hasn’t put me off Tayari Jones. I’ve heard wonderful things about all of her other novels and I’m excited to get to them. But as for An American Marriage, I’m glad that Oprah saw something in it that I didn’t. That’s why I’m not Oprah. Even if I do share her devotion to bread.
The novel concerns a married couple, Roy and Celestial, who live a fairly normal life until Roy is sent to jail for allegedly raping another woman. Whilst in jail, Roy and Celestial try to keep the marriage going as normal but when Celestial experiences surprise success with her doll company everything between our couple begins to buckle and wane.
I’ll begin with what I admired about this novel. I adore Jones’ turn of phrase. She has a very biting and almost sarcastic writing style which complements the plot well. Take this little sentence, which I loved, for example:
‘“Who are these men?” the white cop asked me. His accent was thick and gooey, all Marietta, turn left at the Big Chicken.’
Isn’t that just wonderful? There’s little lines like that strewn throughout the novel like confetti.
The novel is also very well structured. It employs three narrators, each rewarded a perspective, as the plot flows through their voices. Oftentimes I’m quite ‘meh’ about constantly changing perspectives but Jones makes it work flawlessly. She has a real master touch.
However, no matter how much I polish it up, there’s no helping the plot of An American Marriage. Oprah recently chose this novel as her book club choice and, no offence to Oprah (I mean, she did get your aunt to read Anna Karenina) but this novel is such an Oprah Book Club pick.
This novel reeks of Lifetime Original Movie. There are some moments that are just achingly sentimental whilst Jones often seeps into melodrama. The climax of the novel, a scene which I won’t spoil but tree huggers beware, was meant to be this great symbolic event in which every bottled emotion is finally unleashed. And I found myself… howling. Just howling at the utter ridiculousness of it. Talk about forcing a metaphor. Jeez.
Thankfully this novel hasn’t put me off Tayari Jones. I’ve heard wonderful things about all of her other novels and I’m excited to get to them. But as for An American Marriage, I’m glad that Oprah saw something in it that I didn’t. That’s why I’m not Oprah. Even if I do share her devotion to bread.
November 12, 2020
This is one of the effective, emotional, heartbreaking and also thought-provoking stories I’ve ever read.
I think this is a book without any grey spot: You just truly love it or you hate it. I sighed several times because this is dramatic, shaking you to the core kind of marriage analysis.
Roy is hard worker, pushing himself so hard to become a successful man from the young ages: winning his scholarship and with his creative entrepreneur skills and he successfully reshapes his life from the scratch. Then he gets married with Celestial. He is not the year’s best husband: he already cheated Celestial at their first anniversary. He has his flaws, paying for his mistakes but now he is prisoned from the crime he didn’t commit after one year of their marriage.
And now both of the parties are forced to write letters each other. Interesting part is two people may live a lie, without telling anything, they may stay married, sharing same house as two strangers but when one of them is behind the bars and only communication method is writing, naturally they cannot keep the lies inside so they start to pour on their feelings by using the power of the words.
This book is not only about racism, unfairness of justice system, it is a realistic, raw, harsh, wise look to the marriage. It is also a sudden slap across your face and urgent wake-up call! It’s about trust, it’s about the society’s expectations and it’s about your choices.
Roy is out of the jail as Celestial already moved on her life. What will happen? Will they act like married couple? Can they trust with each other? What they truly want for their own future?
The conclusion of the story is surprising, soul crushing and memorable. Now I’m listening to the audiobook and I get why I loved this book so much.
I think this is a book without any grey spot: You just truly love it or you hate it. I sighed several times because this is dramatic, shaking you to the core kind of marriage analysis.
Roy is hard worker, pushing himself so hard to become a successful man from the young ages: winning his scholarship and with his creative entrepreneur skills and he successfully reshapes his life from the scratch. Then he gets married with Celestial. He is not the year’s best husband: he already cheated Celestial at their first anniversary. He has his flaws, paying for his mistakes but now he is prisoned from the crime he didn’t commit after one year of their marriage.
And now both of the parties are forced to write letters each other. Interesting part is two people may live a lie, without telling anything, they may stay married, sharing same house as two strangers but when one of them is behind the bars and only communication method is writing, naturally they cannot keep the lies inside so they start to pour on their feelings by using the power of the words.
This book is not only about racism, unfairness of justice system, it is a realistic, raw, harsh, wise look to the marriage. It is also a sudden slap across your face and urgent wake-up call! It’s about trust, it’s about the society’s expectations and it’s about your choices.
Roy is out of the jail as Celestial already moved on her life. What will happen? Will they act like married couple? Can they trust with each other? What they truly want for their own future?
The conclusion of the story is surprising, soul crushing and memorable. Now I’m listening to the audiobook and I get why I loved this book so much.
July 15, 2020
If somehow you have made it to July 2020 without being convinced that we need to burn the entire American justice system down and try again - go ahead and give this book a try.
Come back when you’re finished.
Okay, now that we’re all on the same page, literally and figuratively:
This book is so f*cking hard to read. It’s painful. It’s hard to like any of these characters, or dislike them, for that matter.
They are right and wrong and hurting and hurt and overall so goddamn human. It kills.
This story is a necessary reminder that when we call innocent people guilty they are branded with the consequences of that guilt.
When our justice system messes up, it messes up forever.
And it disproportionately destroys the lives of Black Americans.
Black people are disproportionately wrongfully convicted, disproportionately executed for crimes, disproportionately kept in prison and for longer sentences and for lesser crimes.
If you are a fiction lover above all else, read this book, if it’ll help drive any of that home.
And then read Just Mercy. Read nonfiction as well as fiction. Donate and march. If you are white, use your privilege for good, for once.
This needs to end.
Bottom line: We should aspire to live in a country where stories like this one are just that. Fiction.
------------
pre-review
if you're in the market for a reminder that life is complicated and imperfect and there's no such thing as "the right thing" and we are doomed to hurt everyone we love...
may i recommend this book?
review to come / 3.5 stars
------------
reading this book about a man falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit as part of my "Burn Down the American Justice System and Try Again" series
---
i am spending this month reading books by Black authors. please join me!
book 1: The Stars and the Blackness Between Them
book 2: Homegoing
book 3: Let's Talk about Love
book 4: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race
book 5: The Sellout
book 6: Queenie
book 7: Red at the Bone
book 8: The Weight of the Stars
book 9: An American Marriage
Come back when you’re finished.
Okay, now that we’re all on the same page, literally and figuratively:
This book is so f*cking hard to read. It’s painful. It’s hard to like any of these characters, or dislike them, for that matter.
They are right and wrong and hurting and hurt and overall so goddamn human. It kills.
This story is a necessary reminder that when we call innocent people guilty they are branded with the consequences of that guilt.
When our justice system messes up, it messes up forever.
And it disproportionately destroys the lives of Black Americans.
Black people are disproportionately wrongfully convicted, disproportionately executed for crimes, disproportionately kept in prison and for longer sentences and for lesser crimes.
If you are a fiction lover above all else, read this book, if it’ll help drive any of that home.
And then read Just Mercy. Read nonfiction as well as fiction. Donate and march. If you are white, use your privilege for good, for once.
This needs to end.
Bottom line: We should aspire to live in a country where stories like this one are just that. Fiction.
------------
pre-review
if you're in the market for a reminder that life is complicated and imperfect and there's no such thing as "the right thing" and we are doomed to hurt everyone we love...
may i recommend this book?
review to come / 3.5 stars
------------
reading this book about a man falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit as part of my "Burn Down the American Justice System and Try Again" series
---
i am spending this month reading books by Black authors. please join me!
book 1: The Stars and the Blackness Between Them
book 2: Homegoing
book 3: Let's Talk about Love
book 4: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race
book 5: The Sellout
book 6: Queenie
book 7: Red at the Bone
book 8: The Weight of the Stars
book 9: An American Marriage
April 21, 2018
4 stars! This was a beautifully written, thought-provoking, slow burn novel that crept its way into my heart, settling deep within my bones. I will be thinking of these characters long after finishing this book.
This story follows Roy and Celestial, a young newlywed couple who have a passionate and impetuous relationship – loving deeply and arguing stubbornly. They are from different “worlds”, but have found an explosive love and connection with one another. Less than two years after getting married, Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years in prison for a crime Celestial knows he did not commit.
The story is narrated by both Roy and Celestial, along with Celestial’s childhood friend Andre. There are several letters included throughout the story between various characters, mainly Roy and Celestial while he is in prison. These letters were a brilliant addition to the story – my connection with the characters grew stronger as each letter was revealed.
The author, Tayari Jones, writes with such beauty and clarity. I was fully invested in this emotional and chaotic story, rooting for these characters to overcome their devastating situation. My heart has made a special spot for “Big Roy”, Roy’s father – he was an outstanding and unforgettable character – I simply adored him!
I highly recommend this deep and touching book. It took a few chapters to pull me in, so be prepared for a slow burn that will gradually make its way into your soul.
This story follows Roy and Celestial, a young newlywed couple who have a passionate and impetuous relationship – loving deeply and arguing stubbornly. They are from different “worlds”, but have found an explosive love and connection with one another. Less than two years after getting married, Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years in prison for a crime Celestial knows he did not commit.
The story is narrated by both Roy and Celestial, along with Celestial’s childhood friend Andre. There are several letters included throughout the story between various characters, mainly Roy and Celestial while he is in prison. These letters were a brilliant addition to the story – my connection with the characters grew stronger as each letter was revealed.
The author, Tayari Jones, writes with such beauty and clarity. I was fully invested in this emotional and chaotic story, rooting for these characters to overcome their devastating situation. My heart has made a special spot for “Big Roy”, Roy’s father – he was an outstanding and unforgettable character – I simply adored him!
I highly recommend this deep and touching book. It took a few chapters to pull me in, so be prepared for a slow burn that will gradually make its way into your soul.
January 10, 2018
Roy has done the best he could with the life he was given. Now married to Celestial, a young woman with dreams of her own, are traveling to meet his parents for the first time. The visit will prove less than successful, and a terrible miscarriage of Justice will occur that will detail their young lives and marriage.
These are characters to that one wants to root for, wants things to turn out well for them. Of course, life seldom works that way, things change, circumstances beyond ones control interfere. A story where events shape a future, where a chance meeting changes a life, where the only bad guy is the Justice system, a system it is almost impossible to defeat. The high cost of incarceration, prisons full of young black men, many times not given a voice, not believed or railroaded by a system who believes the must be guilty. For Roy, his life will never be the same. He must fight to remember who he was, where he was and what he wanted in his life.
This author does an amazing job detailing the crisis in a marriage that was interrupted by the system. Her writing is clear, concise, but pointed and sharp. The characters fully developed people with wants and needs of their own. The love of a family, a father who cares for a son that was not always his, and a young woman who must make a decision that will definitely her life going forward. Quite a book, quite a story.
ARC from Edelweiss.
These are characters to that one wants to root for, wants things to turn out well for them. Of course, life seldom works that way, things change, circumstances beyond ones control interfere. A story where events shape a future, where a chance meeting changes a life, where the only bad guy is the Justice system, a system it is almost impossible to defeat. The high cost of incarceration, prisons full of young black men, many times not given a voice, not believed or railroaded by a system who believes the must be guilty. For Roy, his life will never be the same. He must fight to remember who he was, where he was and what he wanted in his life.
This author does an amazing job detailing the crisis in a marriage that was interrupted by the system. Her writing is clear, concise, but pointed and sharp. The characters fully developed people with wants and needs of their own. The love of a family, a father who cares for a son that was not always his, and a young woman who must make a decision that will definitely her life going forward. Quite a book, quite a story.
ARC from Edelweiss.
March 12, 2018
One sock officially knocked off!!! (equals 4.5 rounded up up up!)
I look a little funny on my pogo stick (yes, this is a pogo stick kind of book) since I have just one sock on, but I have my reasons, really I do. The reason is that there was a slump for me in the middle of the story, so that one sock just held onto my foot like nobody’s business. But it was a short-lived slump, and the beginning and the end of the book are so insanely powerful, the other sock almost flew off my other foot. Since I can’t ignore the slump—where there was a teensy dash of god and ghosts (my most un-favorite set of “gees”)—I have to bounce around on the pogo stick with just one foot al fresco. Fine by me.
Okay, okay, enough about my stupid socks. No need to talk about feet, for god’s sake. The main point is I’m flying high on my pogo stick because this book is amazing! So much depth and emotion! I just finished and I must write this review immediately so I transfer my excitement to the page while it’s rip-roarin’ hot.
Here is how I felt: hyper-happy, then a yawn (and the threat of a Complaint Board), then hyper-happy on steroids.
Hyper-happy. OMG what a great beginning! My favorite part was a series of intense letters between the married couple, Roy and Celestial. Wow are the letters loaded. There is conflict, misunderstandings, gentle accusations. Each point of view is real and honest and argumentative. This is what I call psychological action. Each of them cornered, they say what they really think. There is blame yet no blame. No sugar coating.
What? I want more letters! Where did they go? They left and took the juice with them. Yep, about halfway through, I started to yawn. This was the beginning of the slump that kept my one sock on, tight, and made me consider dragging out the Complaint Board. Why couldn’t the whole book be in letters? Even though I started out by getting attached to the characters, now I started feeling detached. And damn, I skidded on a patch of God, where it appeared in a whole short chapter, plus at the beginning of the next. Other scenes I didn’t like were a funeral and a visit to a graveyard. I know it’s just me, but I usually don’t like ceremonies—in books or in real life (unless something big and surprising happens). The ghost appears at the graveyard scene, where a dead mom gives advice: be a good man, blah blah blah. I thought that it was sort of clichéd.
Hyper-happy on steroids! Soon after the offending slump, I grabbed my pogo stick again. I wouldn’t think of pulling out the Complaint Board now. Hot damn! This is what I call high drama, and I loved it. It’s not melodramatic and it’s not over-the-top. It’s an incredibly realistic portrayal of marriage, a marriage that had to sustain a five-year separation. There is so much conflict, so much tension between the couple, I was riveted. This author gets into the heads of Roy and Celestial, and what we get is this tremendously insightful psychological story about the strength of love, guilt, expectations, disconnects. The author does an amazing job in making you empathize with Roy and his situation. He is flawed, however, and you don’t always accept his choices or actions—but you still love him.
The dialogue is some of the most realistic I’ve read, and the story is as much about what isn’t uttered as about what is. It’s sharp, edgy, and honest. It has to do with illusions and delusions and hope and loyalty. It raises questions about relationships and morality. We know, for instance, that the reason for the separation, and what happened during that time, is no one’s fault. Feelings develop, feelings change—at least for some. Time changes things whether we like it or not. What is love and can people move on? Should you act on feelings when you know you shouldn’t? Do you stick it out when you really don’t want to? Can hope be powerful enough to get you what you want? It’s so much about the nuances of love and about how being apart can change things majorly.
I don’t want to say anything about the plot, even about the big event at the beginning of the book that changes the course of Celestial’s and Roy’s life. I just love going into things cold, so that everything is a surprise. To me, that’s part of the fun of reading. Oh, I will say that I’ve read a few too many thrillers recently, because at the beginning I thought what was going on was sinister. Ha! No! Far from it! The book shows the severe consequences of social injustice (the cast is African-American) but it is in no way a message book.
I always love it when a character does something you don’t expect. And that’s what is so cool about this book. When Roy returns after five years, I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen, and I loved every single surprise in behavior. There was this edge, this fear, although I kept telling myself that nothing bad would actually happen. Or would it? I must say I was so attached to both characters by that time. I felt like I knew them really well, yet they kept acting in ways I wasn’t expecting. Much wringing of my hands, but I was rooting for them both, bigtime. The dilemma they faced seemed to have no possible good resolution. My eyes did not leave the pages for hours. The way the book ends is brilliant.
I must say, too, that the writing is fantastic. There are little bits of wisdom throughout. Here is a sample of her wonderful words:
“She was no bigger than a minute, so I bent my back to sweep her feet up off the porch and she laughed musical like a xylophone.”
“Somehow she rearranges the ions in the air and you can’t breathe as well.”
“In poker, you get five cards. Three of them you can swap out, but two are yours to keep: family and native land.”
“His laughter broke whatever sticky spell bound us to the house, and we were able to leave.”
“It’s like the difference between a raw egg and a scrambled egg. It’s the same thing, but it’s not the same at all.”
“It’s like eating a butterscotch still sealed in the wrapper.”
“Even while she wore his ring, she wasn’t his wife. She was merely a married woman.”
“The secrets blocked my throat like a tumor.”
I just remembered that long ago I read another novel by Jones, called Silver Sparrow. Ann Patchett recommended it, and since I was enamored with Patchett’s State of Wonder, I jumped to read any book she dangled in front of my face. I remember that I liked Silver Sparrow and was super impressed by the writing, but I couldn’t tell you what it’s about. An American Marriage, on the other hand, will stick with me, I’m sure.
I’m still hopping inside, hyper-happy, pretty manic. I was skeptical about reading this book, since it’s an Oprah selection and thus will be a big seller. (Big sellers are often a letdown.) I’m SO glad I didn’t miss this one. The characters are complex, their relationship is messy, and the story is profound. Now let me continue down the road on my pogo stick, the other sock threatening to fly off…
I look a little funny on my pogo stick (yes, this is a pogo stick kind of book) since I have just one sock on, but I have my reasons, really I do. The reason is that there was a slump for me in the middle of the story, so that one sock just held onto my foot like nobody’s business. But it was a short-lived slump, and the beginning and the end of the book are so insanely powerful, the other sock almost flew off my other foot. Since I can’t ignore the slump—where there was a teensy dash of god and ghosts (my most un-favorite set of “gees”)—I have to bounce around on the pogo stick with just one foot al fresco. Fine by me.
Okay, okay, enough about my stupid socks. No need to talk about feet, for god’s sake. The main point is I’m flying high on my pogo stick because this book is amazing! So much depth and emotion! I just finished and I must write this review immediately so I transfer my excitement to the page while it’s rip-roarin’ hot.
Here is how I felt: hyper-happy, then a yawn (and the threat of a Complaint Board), then hyper-happy on steroids.
Hyper-happy. OMG what a great beginning! My favorite part was a series of intense letters between the married couple, Roy and Celestial. Wow are the letters loaded. There is conflict, misunderstandings, gentle accusations. Each point of view is real and honest and argumentative. This is what I call psychological action. Each of them cornered, they say what they really think. There is blame yet no blame. No sugar coating.
What? I want more letters! Where did they go? They left and took the juice with them. Yep, about halfway through, I started to yawn. This was the beginning of the slump that kept my one sock on, tight, and made me consider dragging out the Complaint Board. Why couldn’t the whole book be in letters? Even though I started out by getting attached to the characters, now I started feeling detached. And damn, I skidded on a patch of God, where it appeared in a whole short chapter, plus at the beginning of the next. Other scenes I didn’t like were a funeral and a visit to a graveyard. I know it’s just me, but I usually don’t like ceremonies—in books or in real life (unless something big and surprising happens). The ghost appears at the graveyard scene, where a dead mom gives advice: be a good man, blah blah blah. I thought that it was sort of clichéd.
Hyper-happy on steroids! Soon after the offending slump, I grabbed my pogo stick again. I wouldn’t think of pulling out the Complaint Board now. Hot damn! This is what I call high drama, and I loved it. It’s not melodramatic and it’s not over-the-top. It’s an incredibly realistic portrayal of marriage, a marriage that had to sustain a five-year separation. There is so much conflict, so much tension between the couple, I was riveted. This author gets into the heads of Roy and Celestial, and what we get is this tremendously insightful psychological story about the strength of love, guilt, expectations, disconnects. The author does an amazing job in making you empathize with Roy and his situation. He is flawed, however, and you don’t always accept his choices or actions—but you still love him.
The dialogue is some of the most realistic I’ve read, and the story is as much about what isn’t uttered as about what is. It’s sharp, edgy, and honest. It has to do with illusions and delusions and hope and loyalty. It raises questions about relationships and morality. We know, for instance, that the reason for the separation, and what happened during that time, is no one’s fault. Feelings develop, feelings change—at least for some. Time changes things whether we like it or not. What is love and can people move on? Should you act on feelings when you know you shouldn’t? Do you stick it out when you really don’t want to? Can hope be powerful enough to get you what you want? It’s so much about the nuances of love and about how being apart can change things majorly.
I don’t want to say anything about the plot, even about the big event at the beginning of the book that changes the course of Celestial’s and Roy’s life. I just love going into things cold, so that everything is a surprise. To me, that’s part of the fun of reading. Oh, I will say that I’ve read a few too many thrillers recently, because at the beginning I thought what was going on was sinister. Ha! No! Far from it! The book shows the severe consequences of social injustice (the cast is African-American) but it is in no way a message book.
I always love it when a character does something you don’t expect. And that’s what is so cool about this book. When Roy returns after five years, I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen, and I loved every single surprise in behavior. There was this edge, this fear, although I kept telling myself that nothing bad would actually happen. Or would it? I must say I was so attached to both characters by that time. I felt like I knew them really well, yet they kept acting in ways I wasn’t expecting. Much wringing of my hands, but I was rooting for them both, bigtime. The dilemma they faced seemed to have no possible good resolution. My eyes did not leave the pages for hours. The way the book ends is brilliant.
I must say, too, that the writing is fantastic. There are little bits of wisdom throughout. Here is a sample of her wonderful words:
“She was no bigger than a minute, so I bent my back to sweep her feet up off the porch and she laughed musical like a xylophone.”
“Somehow she rearranges the ions in the air and you can’t breathe as well.”
“In poker, you get five cards. Three of them you can swap out, but two are yours to keep: family and native land.”
“His laughter broke whatever sticky spell bound us to the house, and we were able to leave.”
“It’s like the difference between a raw egg and a scrambled egg. It’s the same thing, but it’s not the same at all.”
“It’s like eating a butterscotch still sealed in the wrapper.”
“Even while she wore his ring, she wasn’t his wife. She was merely a married woman.”
“The secrets blocked my throat like a tumor.”
I just remembered that long ago I read another novel by Jones, called Silver Sparrow. Ann Patchett recommended it, and since I was enamored with Patchett’s State of Wonder, I jumped to read any book she dangled in front of my face. I remember that I liked Silver Sparrow and was super impressed by the writing, but I couldn’t tell you what it’s about. An American Marriage, on the other hand, will stick with me, I’m sure.
I’m still hopping inside, hyper-happy, pretty manic. I was skeptical about reading this book, since it’s an Oprah selection and thus will be a big seller. (Big sellers are often a letdown.) I’m SO glad I didn’t miss this one. The characters are complex, their relationship is messy, and the story is profound. Now let me continue down the road on my pogo stick, the other sock threatening to fly off…
February 25, 2018
That ending...
Writing- 4 stars
Characters- 3 stars
Language- 3 stars
Plot/Concept- 2 stars
Ugh! Those people exhaust me. Only the parents and Davina were likable. Can't forget about the Uncle who helped Roy. I didn't like Celestial's mother either.
Writing- 4 stars
Characters- 3 stars
Language- 3 stars
Plot/Concept- 2 stars
Ugh! Those people exhaust me. Only the parents and Davina were likable. Can't forget about the Uncle who helped Roy. I didn't like Celestial's mother either.
September 12, 2018
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Let’s get real. That’s the reason everyone and their damn dog read this thing. Now that I’ve read it, I’m fairly certain that’s why many users rated it so high as well. I actively avoided it for months because I wasn’t quite sure if I was still a drinker of the Oprah Kool-Aid and wanted to maintain my fond memories of a bygone era. But then a co-worker told me about a podcast she listened to where Tayari Jones was interviewed and convinced me to add my name to the waiting list because she sounded so nice. There’s a good chance that she’s the nicest person in the universe . . . . but the characters she wrote about sure weren’t.
For me, it all boils down to . . . .
“Young people don’t respect the institution.”
While I don’t believe that is the case, the message that THESE YOUNG PEOPLE in particular didn’t respect the institution of marriage was broadcast loud and clear throughout the duration of this novel. As a woman who has been married for 22 years, let me tell you this story pissed me plum the fuck off. These people weren’t in an “American Marriage” – or if they were I’m declaring I want different categories because they didn’t even LIKE each other FFS. He was an overgrown manchild who screwed women on the side while vilifying his “little missus” for not being interested in getting knocked up on their honeymoon. She was so worried about losing herself to a man that she wouldn’t give ANY part of herself for the greater good of their union. Their “marriage” of a year and a half was full of lies and omissions and both of them sickened me.
I’m a person who LOVES reading about the underdog or the “bad” guy. I don’t shy away from vile characters – often times I even find myself cheering for them. But these people? Ugh. If this is what “real” people are like then let me stay in my bubble because I could just vomit. From giving up on her supposedly innocent husband nearly instantaneously (don’t argue semantics – just because she pretended to stay with him for two years doesn’t mean she didn’t move on with her life/career immediately), to falling into bed with her childhood friend (and again, this relationship had zero actual love that translated to the page – only convenience and a copout) to him having a one-night-stand with a woman the day he’s out of prison and then informing his wife that he could rape her if he wanted to when she dares to tell him he needs to use protection if they are going to have sex (while she’s supposedly engaged to her (and his – can’t forget they were college buddies) best pal). Again - vomit.
I don’t know this reviewer, but the first few lines of THIS REVIEW asks the questions I kept asking myself. The answer for me? My rating comes from how much I enjoyed a book – not for its literary merit. I LOATHED this book, its characters, the glossing over the trial/incarceration/appeal/etc., its jumping of the shark that somehow a man whose father ran out on his mother when he was but a baby somehow MAGICALLY ends up in not only the same penal institution (and don’t forget there’s roughly 2.3 MILLION PEOPLE currently incarcerated in the United States), but also winds up his cellie in some attempt at tragi-porn that never delivers ANNNNNNND the beyond the grave letter from his dearly departed mama. GTFOOH. It doesn’t matter that the writing was clearly good, the snippets of imprisonment left me wanting more of that story, the final showdown in the front yard FINALLY offered me something to believe in or Big Roy . . . . .
“When I look at Mr. Roy out there, at his wife’s grave, I feel like I’ve been playing at marriage. That I don’t know what it is to be committed.”
Oh Big Roy. You were nearly enough to make me change my mind, but I’m sticking to my guns and this solo star.
Nearly ALL of my friends loved this novel thoroughly. There’s a good chance you will too. After all, the power of Oprah compels you. And if you think I’m kidding about that, here’s a pic I took last night when my kid challenged me to a “minute to win it” type of event where I pulled all the Oprah books I could off the shelves while he timed me . . . . .
Let’s get real. That’s the reason everyone and their damn dog read this thing. Now that I’ve read it, I’m fairly certain that’s why many users rated it so high as well. I actively avoided it for months because I wasn’t quite sure if I was still a drinker of the Oprah Kool-Aid and wanted to maintain my fond memories of a bygone era. But then a co-worker told me about a podcast she listened to where Tayari Jones was interviewed and convinced me to add my name to the waiting list because she sounded so nice. There’s a good chance that she’s the nicest person in the universe . . . . but the characters she wrote about sure weren’t.
For me, it all boils down to . . . .
“Young people don’t respect the institution.”
While I don’t believe that is the case, the message that THESE YOUNG PEOPLE in particular didn’t respect the institution of marriage was broadcast loud and clear throughout the duration of this novel. As a woman who has been married for 22 years, let me tell you this story pissed me plum the fuck off. These people weren’t in an “American Marriage” – or if they were I’m declaring I want different categories because they didn’t even LIKE each other FFS. He was an overgrown manchild who screwed women on the side while vilifying his “little missus” for not being interested in getting knocked up on their honeymoon. She was so worried about losing herself to a man that she wouldn’t give ANY part of herself for the greater good of their union. Their “marriage” of a year and a half was full of lies and omissions and both of them sickened me.
I’m a person who LOVES reading about the underdog or the “bad” guy. I don’t shy away from vile characters – often times I even find myself cheering for them. But these people? Ugh. If this is what “real” people are like then let me stay in my bubble because I could just vomit. From giving up on her supposedly innocent husband nearly instantaneously (don’t argue semantics – just because she pretended to stay with him for two years doesn’t mean she didn’t move on with her life/career immediately), to falling into bed with her childhood friend (and again, this relationship had zero actual love that translated to the page – only convenience and a copout) to him having a one-night-stand with a woman the day he’s out of prison and then informing his wife that he could rape her if he wanted to when she dares to tell him he needs to use protection if they are going to have sex (while she’s supposedly engaged to her (and his – can’t forget they were college buddies) best pal). Again - vomit.
I don’t know this reviewer, but the first few lines of THIS REVIEW asks the questions I kept asking myself. The answer for me? My rating comes from how much I enjoyed a book – not for its literary merit. I LOATHED this book, its characters, the glossing over the trial/incarceration/appeal/etc., its jumping of the shark that somehow a man whose father ran out on his mother when he was but a baby somehow MAGICALLY ends up in not only the same penal institution (and don’t forget there’s roughly 2.3 MILLION PEOPLE currently incarcerated in the United States), but also winds up his cellie in some attempt at tragi-porn that never delivers ANNNNNNND the beyond the grave letter from his dearly departed mama. GTFOOH. It doesn’t matter that the writing was clearly good, the snippets of imprisonment left me wanting more of that story, the final showdown in the front yard FINALLY offered me something to believe in or Big Roy . . . . .
“When I look at Mr. Roy out there, at his wife’s grave, I feel like I’ve been playing at marriage. That I don’t know what it is to be committed.”
Oh Big Roy. You were nearly enough to make me change my mind, but I’m sticking to my guns and this solo star.
Nearly ALL of my friends loved this novel thoroughly. There’s a good chance you will too. After all, the power of Oprah compels you. And if you think I’m kidding about that, here’s a pic I took last night when my kid challenged me to a “minute to win it” type of event where I pulled all the Oprah books I could off the shelves while he timed me . . . . .
May 17, 2018
One of the things I liked the most about this novel is that a portion of the book is comprised of letters, mostly between Roy while in prison for a crime he didn’t commit and his wife Celestial. Letter writing seems like it’s from a bygone time and I never feel as if e-mail and certainly not texts adequately reflect the intimate picture of ourselves that a hand written letter does. This is not just about the intimate look at this one relationship, but it’s about their families and their pasts. On another level though, it’s a commentary on the judicial system that isn’t always fair and of the racism reflected in the prison system.
Through these letters and their alternating narratives as well as Andre, who is Celestial’s life long friend, the complexity of these individuals is depicted. It becomes clear in many ways how their pasts and their family situations shaped them as the adults they are today, but it isn’t clear about what their decisions will be moving forward when it is determined that Roy is innocent and is released from prison after serving five years. I was impressed with how evenly these characters are portrayed. I equally liked and disliked each of them at different times. The two characters that I had no reservations about were Ray’s parents Big Ray and Olive who loved Ray unconditionally. A lot of times like so many other readers I suspect, when we’re in the middle of a book we have an idea, a hope perhaps, of how we want the story to conclude . I wasn’t sure how I wanted this to end and I was surprised, but satisfied when I read the epilogue. Even though Roy and Celestial had been married for just over a year before he is incarcerated, it was sad that the racial injustices of the system, of society overall took from them the next five years of their marriage. A thought provoking and moving story for sure.
Thanks to Diane for sending me this book.
June 5, 2019
Winner of the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction
Audiobook performed by Sean Crisden & Eisa Davis 9h
I really enjoyed the performance of these narrators as they breathe life into Tayari Jones' story. They definitely kept me riveted to my seat as the triple narrative between Celestial, Roy, and Andre unfolded. Given the title, the central story really is about this couple's marriage-their courtship and all that comes after. It was all the family relationships that convinced me this book was a solid 4 star rating. Oh and how I loved both Big Roy and Mr.Davenport! Their roles proved to be the cogs to keep the main storyline full of momentum as they challenged the three major protagonists over and over again.
Since its publication on Feb 6/18 and with Oprah's seal of approval "An American Marriage" is certainly heating up social media. Goodreads has over ten thousand strong reviews and it appears that this book is appealing to a wide range of diverse readers. Not all the reviews are glowing, but I believe that I have enjoyed reading all the various perspectives to the same degree that I have enjoyed reading/listening to this audio version.
Thanks to my Goodreads friend, La Tonya for the recommendation.
Audiobook performed by Sean Crisden & Eisa Davis 9h
I really enjoyed the performance of these narrators as they breathe life into Tayari Jones' story. They definitely kept me riveted to my seat as the triple narrative between Celestial, Roy, and Andre unfolded. Given the title, the central story really is about this couple's marriage-their courtship and all that comes after. It was all the family relationships that convinced me this book was a solid 4 star rating. Oh and how I loved both Big Roy and Mr.Davenport! Their roles proved to be the cogs to keep the main storyline full of momentum as they challenged the three major protagonists over and over again.
Since its publication on Feb 6/18 and with Oprah's seal of approval "An American Marriage" is certainly heating up social media. Goodreads has over ten thousand strong reviews and it appears that this book is appealing to a wide range of diverse readers. Not all the reviews are glowing, but I believe that I have enjoyed reading all the various perspectives to the same degree that I have enjoyed reading/listening to this audio version.
Thanks to my Goodreads friend, La Tonya for the recommendation.
April 14, 2019
(3.5?) This book was heartbreaking but also quite frustrating and exhausting.
I'm reading this Contemporary as part of my "Goodreads Reading Challenge" and it's not something I would usually have picked up but I understand why it's so popular.
Newlyweds struggle with their lives as Roy is falsy accused of raping a woman. The book deals with love, race, justice (or really injustice) and will leave you devastated.
I'm reading this Contemporary as part of my "Goodreads Reading Challenge" and it's not something I would usually have picked up but I understand why it's so popular.
Newlyweds struggle with their lives as Roy is falsy accused of raping a woman. The book deals with love, race, justice (or really injustice) and will leave you devastated.
April 25, 2018
"I feel like I need and need and need and it's wearing a hole in the fabric."
Celestial and Roy's marriage is just breaking ground as a young seedling when the earth ravages the soil and the fissures play havoc with such gentle growth. Roy has been accused of a rape that he did not commit. His kindness to a down-and-out woman has spun around on him. No matter how many times that Celestial recants the story that Roy was with her all night, the court hears otherwise. Roy will serve his time....twelve years to be exact.
Tayari Jones weaves her story through a series of powerful letters written back and forth between the married couple after Roy is incarcerated. You readily feel the depth of the devastation wrought upon these two as evidenced by this jarring correspondence that reveals an ebb and flow of intensifying and waning emotions swept up in this remorseful stew. Jones packs her dialogue with the razor edge of bitter consequences of life that will alter these two individuals forever. "You've got to work with the God you were given."
Jones' prose will rest heavily upon you. It is raw, pulls-no-punches, and is, without question, painfully brutal in its telling. She seems to ask us just how much velocity from the violent storms of life can we tolerate before completely shattering? Is it possible to cleave to one another when time and place separate us so radically? At first, Celestial believes that love can change its shape. Roy ponders this exceedingly. And, furthermore, do we both see the same images anymore in the darkness and stillness of night that has visited upon us? Perhaps and perhaps not.
You will sit with this one for a while after reading the last page. No cookie-cutter ending here.....just reality served up with plenty of forks in the road. Some expected and some maybe not. Life rumbles in and the aftermath is not always planned beautifully and gracefully in the stars. We just do, folks, under completely different constellations this time. Highly recommend this one.
Celestial and Roy's marriage is just breaking ground as a young seedling when the earth ravages the soil and the fissures play havoc with such gentle growth. Roy has been accused of a rape that he did not commit. His kindness to a down-and-out woman has spun around on him. No matter how many times that Celestial recants the story that Roy was with her all night, the court hears otherwise. Roy will serve his time....twelve years to be exact.
Tayari Jones weaves her story through a series of powerful letters written back and forth between the married couple after Roy is incarcerated. You readily feel the depth of the devastation wrought upon these two as evidenced by this jarring correspondence that reveals an ebb and flow of intensifying and waning emotions swept up in this remorseful stew. Jones packs her dialogue with the razor edge of bitter consequences of life that will alter these two individuals forever. "You've got to work with the God you were given."
Jones' prose will rest heavily upon you. It is raw, pulls-no-punches, and is, without question, painfully brutal in its telling. She seems to ask us just how much velocity from the violent storms of life can we tolerate before completely shattering? Is it possible to cleave to one another when time and place separate us so radically? At first, Celestial believes that love can change its shape. Roy ponders this exceedingly. And, furthermore, do we both see the same images anymore in the darkness and stillness of night that has visited upon us? Perhaps and perhaps not.
You will sit with this one for a while after reading the last page. No cookie-cutter ending here.....just reality served up with plenty of forks in the road. Some expected and some maybe not. Life rumbles in and the aftermath is not always planned beautifully and gracefully in the stars. We just do, folks, under completely different constellations this time. Highly recommend this one.
May 27, 2020
this is an entirely character driven novel. there is no plot beyond what you read in the synopsis - what propels this book is a study of the characters feelings and motivations. and i would have found this story compelling if i had liked the characters. but unfortunately i didnt, so this was quite a boring reading experience for me personally.
i do like that this story attempts to explore topics such as what a marriage means, how relationships between people go because just a formal union, how circumstance is a key factor in life, and the desire to take care of others. but while i found these themes interesting, the characters who encompassed them are not, therefore the execution fell short.
overall, this isnt a terrible book but i do wish i had a better connection to the characters, who are the sole purpose of the story.
↠ 2.5 stars
i do like that this story attempts to explore topics such as what a marriage means, how relationships between people go because just a formal union, how circumstance is a key factor in life, and the desire to take care of others. but while i found these themes interesting, the characters who encompassed them are not, therefore the execution fell short.
overall, this isnt a terrible book but i do wish i had a better connection to the characters, who are the sole purpose of the story.
↠ 2.5 stars
April 5, 2018
Nothing is ever over.
This was beautiful. This was a slow roil. A story told with realistic dialogue. A story littered with metaphors. A story sprinkled with wisdom.
I listened to the audio and it was sublime...so gorgeous were the cadence and rhythm that I was often mesmerized, wrapped up in the story and swept away by what felt like a foreign language and a different culture. Highly recommend. 4.75 stars
This was beautiful. This was a slow roil. A story told with realistic dialogue. A story littered with metaphors. A story sprinkled with wisdom.
I listened to the audio and it was sublime...so gorgeous were the cadence and rhythm that I was often mesmerized, wrapped up in the story and swept away by what felt like a foreign language and a different culture. Highly recommend. 4.75 stars
May 13, 2018
4 Compelling Stars.
Marriage, on its own is a complicated venture. Throw in anything else and Kapow! Everyone always says that first year of marriage is the hardest. For Celestial and Roy, nothing will prepare them for what is to come. Madly in love, they think they can conquer the world. Such wishful thinking. After being married for a year, Roy gets arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and is sentenced to twelve years in Prison. Twelve years. What a great start to their marriage. Initially, Celestial tries to be the dutiful, supportive loving wife, visiting and writing him, but as the months and years pass, it get harder and harder.
Told via letters exchanged between Roy and Celestial, this is a novel through which emotion flows like a river: sometimes, lazy and easy, and sometimes, like the river wild.
Have you ever exchanged letters with someone? Real letters? Not just cards or emails? They are more heartfelt, full of either friendship or romance and are a way to stay connected..and that is true here in “An American Marriage.” Roy’s letters to Celestial are real, full of love, feeling and need, changing over time, becoming bitter and angry. Celestial’s are loving, more reserved, more grounded. Always.
In my opinion however, neither character is likable, one even less than the other. Though I didn’t love either character, or any of the peripheral characters for the most part, this book resonated with me in a way that most would not. It brings forth feelings of anger, injustice, love and sorrow. It makes your heart hurt.. tears filling your eyes.
“An American Marriage” is a novel about racism, love and friendship, the trials and tribulations of marriage and the ramifications of the choices we make and those that are made for you. It is compelling and completely thought-provoking and I highly recommend it.
Published on Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter on 5.13.18.
Marriage, on its own is a complicated venture. Throw in anything else and Kapow! Everyone always says that first year of marriage is the hardest. For Celestial and Roy, nothing will prepare them for what is to come. Madly in love, they think they can conquer the world. Such wishful thinking. After being married for a year, Roy gets arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and is sentenced to twelve years in Prison. Twelve years. What a great start to their marriage. Initially, Celestial tries to be the dutiful, supportive loving wife, visiting and writing him, but as the months and years pass, it get harder and harder.
Told via letters exchanged between Roy and Celestial, this is a novel through which emotion flows like a river: sometimes, lazy and easy, and sometimes, like the river wild.
Have you ever exchanged letters with someone? Real letters? Not just cards or emails? They are more heartfelt, full of either friendship or romance and are a way to stay connected..and that is true here in “An American Marriage.” Roy’s letters to Celestial are real, full of love, feeling and need, changing over time, becoming bitter and angry. Celestial’s are loving, more reserved, more grounded. Always.
In my opinion however, neither character is likable, one even less than the other. Though I didn’t love either character, or any of the peripheral characters for the most part, this book resonated with me in a way that most would not. It brings forth feelings of anger, injustice, love and sorrow. It makes your heart hurt.. tears filling your eyes.
“An American Marriage” is a novel about racism, love and friendship, the trials and tribulations of marriage and the ramifications of the choices we make and those that are made for you. It is compelling and completely thought-provoking and I highly recommend it.
Published on Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter on 5.13.18.
June 26, 2018
I had never heard of this book. This kind of thing would never really be on my radar anyway. I don’t read a lot of books about marriage, relationships, love, etc.
But, listen, when Oprah tells you to read something, you read it. That’s just how the world works.
I remember that fateful day, sitting on my couch, watching The Today Show or something like that. They kept teasing the big reveal of Oprah’s new book club book. Coming up right after the break. Coming up right after this. We will be right back with the new Oprah thing. Oprah coming up. Stay turned for a book. Books coming right up. Oprah. Book club. Read. Oprah. Stay tuned. Don’t move. Hang in there. Right after this. After these messages. Here we go!
Finally, after what felt like hours of weight loss tips, ways to get organized, gardening, Donald Trump, weather, and summer fashion, this book was revealed. I was so disappointed. First of all, I don’t even know why I cared in the first place. When I heard what the book was about I was not enthused and rolled like a sloth off of the couch on to the floor. I just laid there in a daze for a while, and then I found a way to carry on with the rest of my day.
Later that week, I walked into the library and there was An American Marriage right there in an American library for an American to read. So I checked it out. And I didn’t read it.
Recently, I found the audiobook on my trusty Overdrive app so I downloaded it. This time I actually followed through and listened to it. I listened to the first half in one day, took a break, and listened to the second had today.
And, hey, I really enjoyed listening to it. I had honestly forgotten about the plot so as the book jumped around in the early chapters I was legitimately surprised. It took so abrupt turns that kept me engaged, and the conflict between the handful of characters in the story felt real and emotional and raw. Everything kind of slowly builds up and explodes in the end, but I honestly found myself caught up in the story he whole time.
Shout out to Oprah for bringing this to my attention.
But, listen, when Oprah tells you to read something, you read it. That’s just how the world works.
I remember that fateful day, sitting on my couch, watching The Today Show or something like that. They kept teasing the big reveal of Oprah’s new book club book. Coming up right after the break. Coming up right after this. We will be right back with the new Oprah thing. Oprah coming up. Stay turned for a book. Books coming right up. Oprah. Book club. Read. Oprah. Stay tuned. Don’t move. Hang in there. Right after this. After these messages. Here we go!
Finally, after what felt like hours of weight loss tips, ways to get organized, gardening, Donald Trump, weather, and summer fashion, this book was revealed. I was so disappointed. First of all, I don’t even know why I cared in the first place. When I heard what the book was about I was not enthused and rolled like a sloth off of the couch on to the floor. I just laid there in a daze for a while, and then I found a way to carry on with the rest of my day.
Later that week, I walked into the library and there was An American Marriage right there in an American library for an American to read. So I checked it out. And I didn’t read it.
Recently, I found the audiobook on my trusty Overdrive app so I downloaded it. This time I actually followed through and listened to it. I listened to the first half in one day, took a break, and listened to the second had today.
And, hey, I really enjoyed listening to it. I had honestly forgotten about the plot so as the book jumped around in the early chapters I was legitimately surprised. It took so abrupt turns that kept me engaged, and the conflict between the handful of characters in the story felt real and emotional and raw. Everything kind of slowly builds up and explodes in the end, but I honestly found myself caught up in the story he whole time.
Shout out to Oprah for bringing this to my attention.
August 10, 2019
An American marriage
A young marriage destroyed when the man goes to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. When he’s released finally, life has shifted from what it once was.
A reconciliation of hurt, fear, and love. Redemption and restarting.
The writing: awesome.
4⭐️
A young marriage destroyed when the man goes to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. When he’s released finally, life has shifted from what it once was.
A reconciliation of hurt, fear, and love. Redemption and restarting.
The writing: awesome.
4⭐️
March 22, 2018
Celestial and Roy have only been married a bit over a year when he’s found guilty of a crime. Roy isn’t a saint. Celestial discovers he’s already cheated on her on their first anniversary. But he is innocent of the crime.
In the blink of an eye, they go from living “that Huxtable life” to Roy being in prison.
The author gets certain things exactly right, like being caught between a parent and a spouse. And how little we really know about our spouse when we go into marriage. Prison forces Celestial and Roy to write each other and in writing, they initially give up their secrets. They’re forced to communicate. But then they don’t. Or rather, they don’t understand where the other is coming from. These two have problems with a capital P.
The meat of the story really rings true. We can’t predict how things will turn out for us. Bad things happen and we are forced to deal with them, deserved or not. Jones has a definite voice. I can’t say for sure whether the way the main characters speak is realistic, but it sure seems that way to me. And her writing was amazing. “She let her fingers roam around my body, as dainty as a firefly but with healing in her hands like a storefront preacher.”
This is a hard story. Another reviewer described this as raw and that’s a very apt description. I felt all sorts of emotions for both Roy and Celestial. I loved what this book had to say about marriage. I had no idea how this would end but I was very pleased at the ending.
September 7, 2018
The strongest writing I've read in a while. Witty in all the right places. Rich characters. The plot isn't ultra-memorable but I have the feeling it's going to haunt me the more I think about it. There's a lot of overt conflict, internal and external, but the ever-present social subtext is what makes it art. Glad I didn't miss it!
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