“An American Marriage” by Tayari Jones

Celestial and Roy, a thirty-something African American couple, are married and living the American dream in Atlanta. Roy is in sales. Celestial is an artist who makes stuffed dolls called “poupees”.  Roy and Celestial have their challenges, but mostly, they’re tight and all right.
 


Until the unthinkable thing happens. Roy is convicted of a rape he didn’t commit, and he and Celestial are separated. AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE is the story of what happens to Celestial and Roy and Celestial’s old best friend, Andre, under circumstances that would strain the best of relationships.
 


I cared about the three main characters from the getgo. I like what seems to be an accurate portrayal of educated, middle class blacks and how they see the world. I like the writing–it’s alive and creative and clever. Several scenes are emotionally vivid and moving and quite accurate, I think, in depicting intimacy and conflict in relationships.



But much of the first half of the story is told in letters between Roy and Celestial, and I don’t “buy” them. Their voices feel over-written and unnatural. And throughout the book, the characters’ voices sound alike—Roy sounds like Celestial, who sounds like Roy, and both of them sound like Andre. I was too often aware of the writer in the background, and this distracted me as I read.



My interest, though, didn’t wane as far as wanting to know what would happen to Roy and Celestial and Andre. I cared about them and appreciated the complexity of their situations. I wondered right up to the ending, an ending that made sense but was a bit abrupt in its presentation.



AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE is similar to most marriages I’ve seen—flawed, but worth hanging in for the duration.

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