AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE

AUTHOR: Tayari Jones

Jones's novel has a compelling story of love, loss and coming to terms with how things play out through the upheavals of Roy, an African American living in USA, who's wrongfully incarcerated 1 year into his marriage.

The characters here are a bit different, they're all educated, ambitious and even privileged. But they're also black, and so they become an unlawful judicial target.

Roy and Celestial had been in love and trying for a baby, when they decide to visit Roy's parents. As the narration explains, the trip came with an ominous sense of terror, a feeling of oncoming wrong. And soon, Roy finds him facing 12 years of prison for a crime he didn't commit. 

The narration changes from a first person perspective to personal letters that feel almost intrusive to read, and the whole narration itself is intensely personal.

Using the letters, Jones has given a depth to the feelings between Celestial and Roy and the discomfort they faced being away from each other and the separation that came and the anger it triggered.

Soon, the narration changes from letters to first person perspectives, adding another narrator, Andre, Celestial's childhood best friend who both start 'playing house' and even when the story complicates, each chapter gave the character's a chance to explain themselves and redeem the reader's rooting.

Every sentence was power packed with information and secrets and covered intimate topics of infidelity, life in prison and broken marriages. this book was capable of shifting it's focus from the wrongful incarceration itself to the actual impact of it on Roy's marriage.

a giant roster of characters was enough to keep me hooked, every different angle of stry was new and somehow made the central plot line richer.

I LOVE books that put me in a moral challenge, that introduce me to characters with flaws and a power to compel you to believe otherwise and this book was just that. some lines from this book just stuck with me and i was in awe from the first page to the last

10/10 would recommend to everybody!