An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
A Book Review

When you start an Oprah’s Book Club’s recommendation, you very rarely end up disappointed. This was exactly the case with “An American Marriage” by Tayari Jones. This was Jones’ fourth novel which also earned her the prestigious 2019 Women’s Prize forFiction.

Roy Hamilton and Celestial Gloriana are a regular middle class, Black couple who have seemingly settled down into one and half years of their contented marriage. Roy and Celestial are visiting Roy’s parents in Louisiana and put up in a local motel for the night when the police unceremoniously crash into their room the next morning and arrest Roy for a crime he didn’t commit.

With all the criminal technology available at this point in time, it is perhaps a weakness of the writing to allow this miscarriage of justice to occur in the plot. Maybe it is a strong suggestion by the writer to focus on the alarming statistic of Black men being incarcerated simply because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, this storyline while it touches, it does not concern itself wholly about highlighting the social injustices towards the Black race in America, but focuses rather more on what constitutes a happy marriage, gender roles and expectations within a marriage, and also how within one race, there can be such disparate backgrounds and lifestyles. The reader wonders whether this marriage would have survived if it was not rudely interrupted by Roy’s 12 year prison sentence. Would the liberal, politically savvy Celestial who hails from an affluent Atlanta family be the wife that Roy who is trying to escape from his impoverished, Louisiana upbringing, desires?

The storyline is exalted to a new level as each character (initially Roy and Celestial and then Andre who is the third point of this love triangle) is allowed to narrate their version of the events. I especially enjoyed the southern formality and courtly diction which is so refreshing in modern times. This novel could have easily focussed on the overdone racism theme but instead delves into an interesting angle that explores how ingrained, cultural aspirations influence and clash with personal desires within the black middle classes.

My only gripe with this book is that it kept me up way past my bedtime as I desperately wanted to know how this tale would unfold. The title promises that this is a story of an affair of the hearts and it delivers as promised without any long winded digressions into court room deliberations and the sordidness of prison life. This book is also available in audio format.