I’d heard nothing about An American Marriage before it arrived, its cover adorned with an Oprah’s Book Club selection tag which always reminds me of Jonathan Franzen’s pompous refusal to have anything to do with Winfrey’s endorsement of The Corrections, considering himself to be part of the ‘high art literary tradition‘. Well, la di da. Anyway, it certainly didn’t put me off nor Michael Chabon who also rated it highly as did Amy Bloom, one of my favourite writers. Tayari Jones’ novel lays bare a marriage in the first flush of love when the husband is wrongfully imprisoned.
Roy and Celestial are visiting his parents in small town Louisiana. They met briefly when she visited her best friend Andre in college but their relationship began properly four years later. Roy is a publishing rep, easy, charming and very successful at what he does while Celestial is a doll maker whose work is just beginning to catch the art world’s eye. They’re an attractive young couple, bright successful and in love, part of Atlanta’s growing black middle class. Celestial is a little nervous about the visit, never feeling she quite measures up to her mother-in-law’s exacting eye. Roy has booked them into a local hotel much to her relief. When he meets a woman at the ice machine, her arm in a cast, they briefly chat and he helps her to her room, opening her door for her before returning to Celestial. In the early hours of the morning, the police burst into their room, hauling Roy off to the station where he is accused of rape and later sentenced to twelve years in prison. Jones’ novel explores the fallout of this awful calamity.
Jones unfolds her story from both Roy and Celestial’s points of view with occasional interpolations from Andre. Married for just eighteen months, they’re still very much caught up in each other. Roy is a confident, slightly brash young man from a respectable blue-collar background while Celestial has enjoyed the privileges of wealth, a divide captured well by Jones in their very different voices, particularly Roy’s: If my childhood were a sandwich, there would be no meat hanging off the bread. Racism, class and marriage come under the microscope as do absent fathers and attitudes towards women which may sound a little ambitious but it’s all tightly controlled and smoothly executed in this powerful novel which avoids the saccharine. Lots to talk about here for book groups – I’m not surprised Oprah plumped for it and I’m sure Jones was more than happy that she did.
I have this up next on the pile and I’m very much looking forward to it. An endorsement from Oprah is no bad thing in my book!
Mine neither but then I don’t think we suffer from extreme pomposity! Hope you enjoy it.
That sounds a thin premise for a prosecution let alone a conviction so I presume there is more to this than you are revealing.?. Anyway you have me tempted
Good to hear, Karen. Both Ray and Celestial are black which we know from the start.
I really enjoyed this (and, BookerTalk, yes there is more to it!) Glad you did too.
I would have expected a little more pre-publication brouhaha about this one but perhaps good old handselling will help.
It was acquired very very quickly by Oneworld in the UK, just after it was published in the States, so I don’t think they had much turnaround time (though we heard about it through the rep). It’s been more widely publicised in the US, for sure.
That explains it. I hope it picks up some more coverage here.
Sounds like a great read and I’ve added it to my tbr list.
Lovely to hear that, Helen. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Your blog costs me a small fortune
You’ve made the old bookseller in me very happy!
There’s been a lot more coverage of this book over here, I think. And, not only have I had it on my list for a while, but I think it will also be showing up on our LW list for next year. I’m glad you liked it!
Pleased to hear that on both counts, Naomi. Lots to get your teeth into here.
I suppose Franzen is so famous he can afford to be a massive snob. I imagine lots of authors would love to have their sales boosted by an endorsement from Oprah!
This sounds ambitious so it’s good to hear Jones pulls it off. I’ll look out for this!
It’s not as if her choices are entirely anodyne. Ah, well – his loss.
Yes, it’s a book that could easily have wandered off into sentimental territory but Jones neatly avoids that.
This is one that I quite enjoyed as well. I found Silver Sparrow just as mesmerizing; I don’t think she is terrifically polished or that she spends as much time thinking about craft as she does about character (and part of me longed for just a little more on those scores) but I absolutely love how hard and fast she pulls me into characters’ stories. And even when it’s dark and painful, she keeps us turning pages! As you’ve mentioned, there is an element of control (so perhaps the polish was there after all but subtle) to keeping sentimentality in check, so perhaps I am not giving her enough credit for polish. In any case, I don’t have any count against her: I thoroughly enjoyed the story and found all three characters wholly credible. Did you have a favourite narrator of the bunch?
It’s the first novel I’ve read by Jones. I’m not sure if any others are available here but perhaps they will be soon if this one does well. As to who was my favourite: both Ray and Celestial have very different voices, both equally convincing, although I found Andre’s not so much perhaps because he popped up only now and again. There, I’ve answered a variation on your question!