An American Marriage by Tayari Jones- book review

There were a few books I anticipated for the first quarter of 2018 and this one was on the top 5. Then Oprah picked it as her book for this month and I knew it had to be a hit. I have to write, I picked it up to read on Friday afternoon and was done with it by Saturday afternoon reading it without any interruptions from other books. That is how much I enjoyed this book.

The book centers on Roy, Celestial, and Andre. Roy and Celestial are married and have known each other since college. Andre has known Celestial since birth and introduced Roy to Celestial as Andre and Roy were “boys.”

Celestial and Roy have a rocky marriage which becomes tested when Roy is arrested for rape, which he did not do. He has to serve out a sentence, during which Celestial’s life goes on. Andre is still in the picture and he and Celestial become a bit closer.

As the years pass, Roy writes to Celestial that he is coming home. How does one re-enter into a life, when life has been passing you by?

The great thing about this book is there are no innocent characters. There is not a character you feel sorry for, although you can side with each person at one time or another, which is incredible writing. Roy, Celestial, and Andre all have deep flaws, yet are just trying to get by in life with a very complex situation.

While my only minor criticism is that at times, this plays out a bit soap opera like, it is very minor. The book explores the complexity of love, marriage, what family is, and how every choice (even if it is not your choice) has implications and complications. For example, Roy is imprisioned, not by his choice, but due to a slanted justice system- does he really expect Celestial to sit still and wait for him? Does he really expect things to stay exactly the same? He was not a great guy to begin with, wouldn’t that come into play? These are all questions the book wrestles with.

The entire story is told from one of the 3 characters with brief intervals where the book is told through letters. While the straight prose portions told you exactly how characters were feeling, I found the letters just as revealing as pain is shared through these letters. Sometimes months pass before another letter arrives and the reader is left to fill in the blanks.

I cannot recommend this book enough. This is definitely one of the top 10 contenders already. I gave this one 4.5 stars.