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All booksLiterary fictionAn American Marriage
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Literary fiction

An American Marriage

BOTY FINALIST
Each year thousands of members vote for our Book of the Year award—congrats to An American Marriage!

by Tayari Jones

Quick take

Celestial and Roy are a year into marriage when Roy is sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. After he's exonerated, they must try to save a relationship that may have been damaged beyond repair.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Icon_Emotional

    Emotional

  • Illustrated icon, Icon_HeavyRead

    Heavy read

  • Illustrated icon, Icon_SocialIssues

    Social issues

  • Illustrated icon, Icon_MarriageIssues

    Marriage issues

Illustrated icon, Icon_Challenging_Indicator

FYI

This is a partially epistolary novel, and its plot points occur mainly within the characters' minds.

Synopsis

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.

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