A NEW YORK TIMES AND WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK A 2018 BEST OF THE YEAR SELECTION OF NPR * TIME * BUSTLE * O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE * THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS * AMAZON.COM OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB 2018 SELECTION LONGLISTED FOR THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION “A moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.” –Barack Obama “Haunting . . . … of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.” –Barack Obama
“Haunting . . . Beautifully written.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Brilliant and heartbreaking . . . Unforgettable.” —USA Today
“A tense and timely love story . . . Packed with brave questions about race and class.” —People
“Compelling.” —The Washington Post
“Epic . . . Transcendent . . . Triumphant.” —Elle
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.
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From start to finish..this was a very entertaining experience.
Beautifully written, although not a “beautiful” story. Such a complex, emotional, and interesting read. I didn’t know what or who I was rooting for throughout the book–nobody wins when something like this happens–but it resolved in a very satisfying and believable way.
Could not get into the story or the characters.
Her writing sticks with you. From the moment I started reading I couldn’t put it down. She gives such life to her characters I felt like I was sitting next to them, like I could feel their breath on my face. She’s very descriptive in her telling of this tragic story that many times I couldn’t hold back my tears. Not only for what the characters went through, but also reading their innermost thoughts and feelings. I highly recommend reading this. I promise you won’t be able to put it down.
Haven’t been able to stop thinking about this book since I read it. It’s thought provoking and beautifully written.
A very timely read. Delved into the characters well and kept your interest up. Not a happy story but a well resolved book.
What would happen to your marriage if your husband was falsely convicted of rape? Would it survive his incarceration? And how do you rebuild once he is released?
These are terrible things that you will have to consider. This well reasoned story is both tragic and redemptivas as it is revealed. How strong are the ties that supposedly bind us to one anothe and what happens when they fray.
i HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK….. IT IS A STORY OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP.
THIS IS A BOOK FOR BOOK CLUBS TO DISCUSS AND ANALYZE AND ENJOY.
NOMY MARGALIT
You could relate to the characters and understand how they related to the tragic events of the story. It makes you wonder just how much does something like this happen.
I didn’t like the end–but I was caught up in the story.
An honest, heart-breaking story of the fallout of tragic wrongful imprisonment.
The beauty of this powerful and compelling novel is its fine, sensitive balance between the universal experience of falling in and out of love, and the specific perspective of its circle of black characters dealing with the painful and familiar trappings of racism and disproportionate justice in the “New South” of Atlanta, Georgia.
As a white reader both aware of yet culturally outside the black experience, I was swept into the narrative by Tayari’s Jones’ evocative storytelling style—with its rich sense of place and character—the propelling thrust of the unfolding drama, and her piercing illumination of the day-to-day causticness and danger of being black in America and all that that encompasses.
We initially experience the joy and sensuality of Celestial and Roy finding each other at the arching moment of their personal and career success, only to have that hopeful trajectory interrupted by a false accusation of rape and the unfathomable conviction that sends Roy to prison for decades. We experience with them the pain and unknowingness about whether or not their new marriage can survive until he is (hopefully) released on appeal, as we witness Celestial’s slow, almost inevitable turn to their longtime and mutual friend, Andre, as both a comfort and a new love.
There is inevitable judgment from family members, impact on her burgeoning artistic career (she makes one-of-a-kind dolls), and the ever-present guilt of not being able to sustain what had only begun, but Jones’s empathy for her characters makes it possible for us to relate to Roy’s anger and anticipation, while also being moved by Celestial’s struggle, Andre’s dilemma, and their ultimate acceptance that life has to move on, no matter the cost. When Roy is unexpectedly released, they are all faced with the fallout of decisions made in his absence; our choice as readers is to either take a side, or allow a sense of universal compassion to open us up to the unfolding conclusion.
It is an emotional, enlightening, painful journey, whether the focus is on true love or the injury of racism, and by the story’s end, I felt as though I had been on that journey with people who mattered. A beautiful book.
So Good! These characters are so well written, the families so well drawn, they will seep into your life and make you care about each of them in a such a unique way. I am excited to tell everyone to read this book!
This is a story that could easily have happened. It’s tragic but it’s true for much of American black history. Good read. I may use this for book club cause it’s likely an interesting discussion.
it was a good story about two people falling in love and pulled apart by an event. What threw me was the back and forth of the female character
Wow – My first time reading a book by this author and it won’t be my last. Beautiful prose and incredibly real characters are just two of the pleasures of this novel that tells the story of a relatively newly-married couple and what happens to their relationship and their lives when the husband is wrongfully accused of rape and sentenced to 12 years.
Within five minutes of beginning this book, I was totally hooked. Each chapter is “narrated” in the first person by either the husband, the wife, or a third person – a friend to both of them who becomes a pivotal character as time goes on. As an author myself, I was amazed and impressed by how fast I was drawn into the lives of these people and how true every sentence rang. Care and attention to detail make this novel a standout. People and places are brought to life. I cared about these people even while I recognized their flaws. Dialogue is exceptionally realistic. Like the main protagonists, secondary characters are fully fleshed out human beings with complex emotions and lives. I should add that I listened to the audio version of this book and the narrators were amazing.
Bottom line: I highly recommend this novel. Bonus – it is being turned into a movie. Read the book first and prepare to enter the world of one particular American marriage that, through no fault of its participants, is put to a test like no other.
Wonderful book
Enlightening with regard to the continued prejudice in our country.
There is a lot to discuss with this book. Great for book clubs.
A tale of survival and how it takes different forms for the husband and wife in this sometimes tragic novel, after a case of mistaken identity tears them apart.