In the end of the novel Roy reads a letter his mother wrote to him years earlier, indicating that she believes Roy is marrying a woman who reflects the class he hopes to be a part of rather than a partner with whom he is truly compatible. Celestial believes that Roy’s mother, Olive, thinks she’s stuck up, and though Roy dismisses Celestial’s concern, this is in fact true. Roy, in fact, begins the novel by stating that Celestial views him as a “country boy,” a designation he “never cared for.” Roy is the first of his family to leave rural Louisiana to attend college, while Celestial grew up in relative privilege in Atlanta. The fact that Roy and Celestial’s upward mobility cannot shield them from the criminal justice system’s prejudicial assumptions about black people allows Jones to specifically highlight the insidious reach of racism.Įven before Roy’s arrest, much of the tension in Roy and Celestial’s relationship arises from their different upbringings.

That has been true from her very first book, but with An American Marriage that vision, that strength and that truth-telling voice have found a new level of artistry and power.In An American Marriage, Jones notably focuses on a well-educated, successful black couple to explore the tensions between partners of different economic backgrounds as well as the broader intersection of race and class. “Tayari Jones is blessed with vision to see through to the surprising and devastating truths at the heart of ordinary lives, strength to wrest those truths free, and a gift of language to lay it all out, compelling and clear. “It’s among Tayari’s many gifts that she can touch us soul to soul with her words.” An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward- with hope and pain- into the future. This stirring love story is a deeply insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. They are settling into the routine of their life together, when they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined.

He is a young executive and she is artist on the brink of an exciting career. Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South.

An american marriage jones