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Summary
Summary
A NEW YORK TIMES AND WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK
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 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.
Author Notes
Tayari Jones was born on November 30, 1970 in Atlanta Georgia. She attended Spelman College, University of Iowa, and the University of Georgia. She later attended Arizonia State University to earn her MFA. She went on to teach creative writing at the University of Illinois and George Washington University.
Her first novel, Leaving Atlanta, was written in 2002 while she was a graduate student at Arizonia State University. It was about the Atlanta Child Murders of 1979-1981.Her other title's include: The Untelling, Silver Sparrow, and An American Marriage. She has been awarded the Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction, the Lillian Smith Book Award, and the Radcliffe Institute Fellowship.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
New York Review of Books Review
TIME PIECES: A Dublin Memoir, by John Banville. (Knopf, $26.95.) The Booker Prize-winning novelist wanders Ireland's capital city, recalling people and places that still live in his memory. Scattered throughout are suitably atmospheric photographs by Paul Joyce. THE REAL LIFE OF THE PARTHENON, by Patricia Vigderman. (Mad Creek/Ohio State University Press, paper, $21.95.) An American scholar visits classic sites of the ancient world in a book that's part travelogue, part memoir and part musing on our complex, contested cultural heritage. SMOKETOWN: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance, by Mark Whitaker. (Simon & Schuster, $30.) Whitaker recounts the untold history of Pittsburgh's role as a mecca for African-Americans in the mid-20th century - from figures like Billy Strayhorn and August Wilson to the local newspaper, The Courier, which covered it all. FEEL FREE: Essays, byZadie Smith. (Penguin, $28.) Deftly roving from literature and philosophy to art, pop music and film, Smith's incisive new collection showcases her exuberance and range while making a cohesive argument for social and aesthetic freedom. A GIRL IN EXILE: Requiem for Linda B., by Ismail Kadare. Translated by John Hodgson. (Counterpoint, $25.) The famed Albanian writer, and perpetual Nobel Prize contender, produces a novel that grapples with the supernatural in a story set against a backdrop of interrogation, exile and thwarted lives. AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE, by Tayari Jones. (Algonquin, $26.95.) Roy and Celestial are a young black couple in Atlanta "on the come up," as he puts it, when he's convicted of a rape he did not commit and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The unfairness of the years stolen from this couple by a great cosmic error forms the novel's slow burn. MONSTER PORTRAITS, by Del and Sofia Samatar. (Rose Metal, paper, $14.95.) Del and Sofia Samatar are brother and sister, and their beautiful new book, which braids Del's art and Sofia's text, explores monstrosity and evil while inviting a discussion about race and diaspora. THE NIGHT DIARY, by Veera Hiranandani. (Dial, $16.99; ages 8 to 12.) A 12-year-old refugee and her family make their way to India's border during the bloody events of Partition in 1947. THE HEART AND MIND OF FRANCES PAULEY, by April Stevens. (Schwartz & Wade, $16.99; ages 8 to 12.) This understated middle grade debut features a dreamy 11-year-old who spends hours among the rocks in her backyard. What the book lacks in plot, it more than makes up in observation, mood and full-on feeling. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Guardian Review
The novelist on a 1940s bestseller that deserves wider attention and how the ancient Greeks have inspired her work The book I am currently reading Brother by David Chariandy. I am only halfway through and I am stunned by the strength and beauty of his words. The book that changed my life I could divide my life into before and after Beloved by Toni Morrison. I was about 19 when I read it. I hate to use such a chilly word to describe an experience that was spiritual, emotional and intellectual, but Beloved made me feel contextualised. That is the only way I can explain it. The book that is most underrated I am dumbfounded as to why The Street by Ann Petry is not more widely read. (I am an evangelist on this matter.) Published in the 1940s, it was the first bestseller by a black American woman - and sold more than 1m copies. It was what we would now call a literary suspense novel. The plot twists are book club gold, but it also raises very challenging questions about race and motherhood. I love to unwind with a good mystery. I like old-fashioned procedurals - no serial killers, please! The book that influenced me Homer's Odyssey . When I was in primary school I was assigned an independent curriculum that centred around children's versions of the classics. I imprinted on those stories like a lost baby duck. As soon as I was old enough, I devoured The Odyssey and The Iliad . (The Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey is breathtaking. Such an accomplishment!) Every book I have written harks back to the Greeks, especially An American Marriage . My heroine, Celestial, is Penelope, only modern, independent and famous for her art. The last book that made me cry Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. The last book that made me laugh Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. The book I'm ashamed not to have read Shame is not allowed in my library! When the time is right, I will read all the books I am meant to read. My earliest reading memory When I was about six, I read Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears . The illustrations were gorgeous, but it wasn't a picture book. (I was really eager to read books "all by myself" that had high word-to-art ratios). I pretended to be a teacher and read it aloud to my dolls. My comfort reading I love to unwind with a good mystery. Tana French and Louise Penny are my favourites. I like old-fashioned procedurals - no serial killers, please! Let's solve the crime and find out that it was motivated by love or money, rather than stone-cold depravity. The best mysteries leave me feeling that a certain order has been restored. The book I give as a gift Sometimes I buy an assortment of children's books and give them to the adults in my life. Everyone seems to love Little Sweet Potato by Amy Beth Bloom. Islandborn by Junot Díaz is also pretty popular.
Library Journal Review
Novelist Jones (Silver Sparrow), recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and United States Artist Fellowship, begins her story with Celestial and Roy, a young, newlywed couple excited about their future together, taking a trip to visit Celestial's family. Roy then makes a simple decision that changes his life. A woman in a nearby hotel room is raped and, having encountered Roy at the ice machine, later mistakenly identifies him as the culprit. Despite the lack of evidence, Roy is sentenced to prison for 12 years. Celestial knows that he is innocent and tries to support him despite her pain. She turns to best friend Andre, who was also a friend of Roy's, eventually beginning a relationship with him. When Roy's conviction is later overturned, his return is equally a joyous and a challenging occasion that brings up issues of love, family, and race. Jones's writing is engagingly layered with letters between the main characters integrated through the narrative. Her personal letter to readers demonstrates how writing this novel changed her. VERDICT Layered like Pearl Cleage's What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, this title will appeal to all readers of contemporary fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 8/14/17.]-Ashanti White, -Fayetteville, NC © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
