An American Marriage (Oprah's Book Club)
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
WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
WINNER OF THE 2019 ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE
WINNER OF THE 2019 NAACP IMAGE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING LITERARY WORK--FICTION
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 . . . 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
"Deeply moving . . . thought-provoking." --Bill Gates
"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.
"One of my favorite parts of summer is deciding what to read when things slow down just a bit, whether it's on a vacation with family or just a quiet afternoon . . . An American Marriage by Tayari Jones is a moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple." --Barack Obama
"Tayari Jones's wise and compassionate new novel, An American Marriage . . . is a clear vision of the quiet devastation of a family. It is beautifully written, with many allusions to black music and culture -- including the everyday poetry of the African-American community that begs to be heard."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Powerful . . . The story . . . is both sweeping and intimate--at once an unsparing exploration of what it means to be black in America and a remarkably lifelike portrait of a marriage."
-- The New Yorker
"Compelling . . . spun with tender patience by Jones, who cradles each of these characters in a story that pulls our sympathies in different directions. She never ignores their flaws, their perfectly human tendency toward self-justification, but she also captures their longing to be kind, to be just, to somehow behave well despite the contradictory desires of the heart."
--Ron Charles, Washington Post
"Tayari Jones is a bard of the modern South, a writer whose skill at weaving stories is matched only by her compassion for her characters. While An American Marriage confronts thorny issues around race and the criminal justice system it is, at heart, a love story. It's also a meditation on the creation of art, the meaning of family and the conflict between duty and desire. Jones has crafted a complex, layered story that's both intimate and broad, a literary page-turner that's impossible to put down."
--The Los Angeles Times