An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club)

A Novel

By: Tayari Jones

Narrated by: Sean Crisden, Eisa Davis

Oprah’s Book Club 2018 Selection

Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to 12 years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit.

Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy's time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy's conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.

This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward - with hope and pain - into the future.

©2018 Tayari Jones (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Narrators Eisa Davis and Sean Crisden skillfully portray Celestial and Roy.... In Part One, the narrators read the couple's letters so intimately that the listener may feel like an intruder.... As every wedding vow is tested, the narrators breathe intensity into Jones's riveting prose." (AudioFile)

All in One Day...

I listened to the entire book in one day...9 hours straight. I have never been captivated by a novel in my 40 years of life. I could see each word as they were narrated... especially Eisa's narration.
When the gentleman narrated the women's parts, it didn't feel as authentic, yet their performances were phenomenal. I want to thank my former school mate, Lashawnda, for recommending this read.

Glad such a worthy author got the Oprah bump

I stumbled upon Jones' Silver Sparrow a few years ago and really liked it--more than this one, actually, though I did like this one. So often, really good authors (often authors of color) are totally overlooked, and you have to do a fair amount of hunting to find them amongst thousands upon thousands of books.

Jones managed to take really depressing and difficult subjects (the over incarceration of black men and wrongful conviction alongside the issues of marriage, children, fractured families, racism, and so on) and treat them in such a way that you get it--it's real--but you don't feel like opening a vein.

Roy was the most compelling and interesting character to me and the audio narrator bumped it up a notch. I wish there had been a different narrator for Celestial. While Davis was fine I was really craving Bahni Turpin, Angela Dawe, or Robin Miles, all of whom would have brought Celestial to life better.

Too often these days, authors write unlikable or really flawed narrators but write them in such a way that you can't relate, can't understand. In this novel, all three main characters are flawed (though nobody is downright unlikeable) yet you can still relate to each and understand why they are the way they are and do the things they do. That's no small feat to pull off.

I was rooting for all three main characters even though I couldn't imagine that it would turn out well for all of them!

interesting story <br />

Storyline was interesting and good. Many themes with predictable results. The book would make a good movie.

Beautifully woven story with a relevant message

I loved this story. I loved the characters. The story is woven together so beautifully and the characters are well developed early on.

I loved the alternating narration but if I had one complaint about the audiobook it would be that they opted to have Roy narrate Celestial’s letters while he is incarcerated. It would have been just as easy to have the woman reading Celestial’s part read her own letters to him.
What ended up happening is he sounded like a trans gender person and that was a little hard to get past. He was excellent narrating for Roy, and he would be excellent narrating a trans character.... I couldn’t get the image of Laverne Cox out of my mind while he was reading for her. Don’t get me wrong, I love Laverne Cox… It just wasn’t right for this book!!

All in all this was a heartbreaking beautiful story of love and loss and rebuilding.

Great Story + amazing performance = 5 stars!

What did you love best about An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club)?

Using beautiful descriptions and expert structure, this book tells two stories. One is the experience of a black couple in America. The other is the real-world strife that humans go through.

What was one of the most memorable moments of An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club)?

I cried within the first hour.