An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

 Welcome to our Book Club. 

"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. In this deft exploration of love, loyalty, race, justice, and both Black masculinity and Black womanhood in 21st century America, Jones achieves that most-elusive of all literary goals: the Great American Novel"

This is a book about love, marriage and racism.  It is timeless.  

Roy and Celestial have been married for about a year and are thinking of finding a bigger house and starting a family. Roy has a good job and Celestial is doing well creating her artistic dolls. Their love for each other is strong. All of that falls to pieces when Roy is convicted of a crime he’s innocent of. Separated by this unjust verdict, Celestial is finding it hard to hold on to a marriage that hadn’t yet had time to “take”. She compares their marriage to a tree that has had a limb of another tree grafted on to it but the graft hasn’t taken yet. In her loneliness, she turns more and more to Andre, her childhood friend. Will this separation between husband and wife completely sever their ties?

This is a beautifully written book that not only takes an in depth look at an American marriage that has been dealt a severe blow but also racial injustice. I love how the author switches to using only letters between the characters once Roy is sentenced to prison. It underscores the separation and distance that has been imposed between these two. They’re each fighting their individual battles – Roy with the injustice of what has been done to him and all that he’s lost when he has tried so hard to do everything right and Celestial is dealing with a battle between responsibility and desire.

The love story is heart wrenching and the suspense of what will happen is often unbearable. 

 

Read along with us.

Our next read is A man called Ove by Fredrik Backman.