Review – An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Title: An American Marriage
Author: Tayari Jones
Year Published: 2018
Format: Hardcover, 320 pp

Summary: 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.

My Summary:  4 stars.

My Thoughts:  I read an Oprah Book Club selection without even meaning to!  🙂

Marriage is complicated and full of nuance, and Tayari Jones does an excellent job capturing these complications and nuances in the marriage between Roy and Celestial.  Not only is this marriage confronted with their personal histories and expectations of family, but also with the unfair circumstances and injustice of America’s criminal justice system.  The reader is invited to regard this story through the eyes of both Roy and Celestial, each pleading their case as it were.

I found myself particularly sympathetic with Roy, despite his flaws.  Roy has a good-naturedness that is reflected in his relationships with others.  I enjoyed his interactions with his parents, in-laws, Walter, and even Davina.  I think this perhaps contributed to my unsympathetic feelings toward Celestial.  She was aloof and struggled with any level of emotional intimacy, as evidenced by her interactions and relationships with all the characters, not just Roy.  But other readers may come to completely different conclusions as Jones has left it up to us to try and understand the intricacies of this relationship.