An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
This book has had a lot of hype around it - the man himself, Barack Obama, has sung its praises - so it’s been one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it’s pretty brilliant!
Celestial and Roy are enjoying life as newlyweds until they go away for a night to visit family and their world is turned upside down. Sleeping peacefully in a motel room, a police raid occurs in which Roy is arrested and falsely accused of raping a woman also staying at the motel. Roy is incarcerated and served with a 12-year sentence for a crime he didn’t commit.
An American Marriage follows the story of two lovers coming to terms with the injustice of the American legal system against the Black community and how this ultimately chips away at their relationship.
The beauty of this book comes from the frustration within it; Jones, through dialogue and letter form, masterfully conveys the intensity of Celestial and Roy having their ordinary, quiet lives unfairly torn apart.
With alternating chapters between the characters, the narrative is fast-paced and intriguing. Not only have I never read a story about incarceration in the Black community, but I’ve never really considered the after effects once the sentence is up. An American Marriage is important because it provides an intimate look at the trauma it causes to two individual people.
Celestial and Roy are two complex characters who I wanted to invest time in but, boy, are they frustrating. A lot of the story focuses on power or, rather, a loss of power, so I found it unsettling that the men were so misogynistic and manipulative towards Celestial. Perhaps this is an interesting focal point to understand how prison changes relationship dynamics.
Overall, I absolutely whizzed through the book, feeling for Celestial and Roy every step of the way, whether that be sadness or irritation. An American Marriage is a window into an important topic and I highly recommend it!
- Katie S x
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