An American Marriage: WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION, 2019

Very fast delivery, good conditions. Overall all good

This book was recommended on the NY Times best reads of 2018 in my Twitter feed. Then when you read that it was also featured in Oprah's Book club and also recommended by President Barack Obama, you know you just have to buy. So I did.I've just finished it and I was determined to write a review whilst it's still fresh in my mind. But I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said. Beautiful isn't really an adjective I'd equate to a book, but this was, the writing was beautiful. The characters were so fulsome and so three dimensional you couldn't help but feel for them, be enveloped in them and share in their pain. I could feel myself holding back tears, I couldn't help but feel totally emotive, cursing when it came time to putting the book down, remembering that my husband would otherwise starve to death if I didn't get up and go and cook dinner. But I always looked forward to going back to it. The protagonists had their own part of their story to tell, from their own perspective, and you ached with sympathy, with empathy and with a longing to see everybody turn out happy. Life was dealt a cruel to them and it was up to them to untangle the messy predicament they found themselves in.If you'd like to go on an emotional journey that leaves you completely wrung out, I would highly recommend An American Marriage. It's worth your money and your time.

This book was readable, but not great. Certainly, I read it quite quickly and I was eager to finish...but I was left feeling a bit short changed at the end.A few people have commented here and I have to do the same, but the writing is just not realistic. Of course some people do have a wonderful way with words, but to have three main characters and their parents speak and write in the most beautiful, embroidered sentences will eventually make you roll your eyes a bit. Equally, none of the characters are likeable, but perhaps the author's intention was to make them this way to highlight the way prison can change lives and personalities.Overall, glad to have read it but wouldn't read again. I thought it was going to be more about the American judicial system and its bias, rather than a solid love story.

I read this book very quickly and really enjoyed it. The pacing is good, story interesting (and timely), the characters vivid. The story is told through a combination of different character's points of view and letters, which I found really effective.The unfairness in what happens to Roy is tragic yet this story goes way beyond that and becomes more about survival, love and humanity. This book isn't about prison as such; in fact, him serving his sentence is a relatively small part of it and there is no day-to-day of his life inside. It's about people.One of many ideas which stays with me after reading this book is how even in this day and age a decent man's life can be swept away on a whim because he is black. Working hard and following all the rules won't be enough and everyone in this book knows it and lives with that fact.You'll keep thinking about this book and the people in it after you've read the last page. I recommend this book very highly.

Newly-weds Celestial and Roy are embarking in the American Dream. Roy is a young business man and Celestial is a promising artist. They have everything to look forward to.Until one day, when visiting Roy's parents in Louisiana, Roy finds himself accused of a crime he did not commit. Roy is a black man in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and despite his innocence and Celestial's assurances that he was with her when the crime was committed, he finds himself sentenced to twelve years.Such a devastating blow, so early in their marriage, leaves Celestial at a loss and she finds it difficult to hold onto the love she felt for Roy. Instead, she finds comfort in the arms of Andre, their closest friend.Roy understandably struggles with his loss of freedom and the developing distance between him and Celestial. When his conviction is eventually overturned, after five years of incarceration, he hopes he can return home and resume his life - but how does the land lie with Celestial, who he has not seen for two years?*********************************************************************************This is the book that won Tayari Jones the coveted Women's Prize for Fiction 2019. It is a powerful piece of writing and has received praise in many quarters - not least from Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey - as the moving portrayal of a the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.The story is told in first person, switching between the narratives of Roy, Celestial and Andre, so you get to see into the hearts and minds of three characters bound together by love and friendship, trying to deal with a separation that has been forced upon them by tragic events beyond their control.It actually took me quite a while to get through this one - alternating between the book and audio book - because this is pretty heavy, emotional stuff. I kept picking it up and putting it down, but found that I was compelled to find out what happens between Celestial, Roy and Andre, so had to reach the end of their story.There is no doubt in my mind that this book deserves all the praise it has received, but I am not sure I actually found this an enjoyable experience. This is not a book to read if you are looking for some light relief! It evokes a visceral feeling of pain in response to the emotional turmoil of Celestial, Roy and Andre and is a very uncomfortable read in parts.Is this really the state of marriage between African-American couples in the USA? I have no idea, but I am not sure Celestial and Roy's relationship would have survived, even if their marriage had not been so brutally ripped apart by the injustice visited upon them. Roy's admitted adultery, even before his imprisonment, played heavily upon my mind, and when added to his obvious arrogance, I found that I could not like his character - even though he was treated so unfairly. I was rooting for Celestial to break free all the way through...no spoilers from me though!I am not sorry to have read this book - especially since it is beautifully written and has had such a high profile - but this is not going to be for everyone, and I would only recommend it with care. It certainly is not my favourite of the books that were shortlisted for the Women's Prize this year, which remains Anna Burns' Milkman (although I admit I have not read them all yet), but it is a worthy piece of literary fiction - maybe that sums up the root of my problem with it...it is just sooo worthy!

An American Marriage is a prize winning bestseller with endorsements from superstars like Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey, so I read it with high expectations. I won't say I was disappointed - the writing is often a thing of beauty - but I did find it difficult. It's set in America's deep south - Atlanta and Louisiana - and written from the perspective of three African-American protagonists. The authenticity of their point of view is both powerful and, as someone with no experience of their world, strangely alienating. Reading it made me feel like an outsider looking in and even the most devastatingly emotional scenes elicited a sense of being excluded somehow. Lots of home-spun mama and papa wisdom, social and historical references that meant nothing to me, the absolute given that the colour of your skin defines you. Maybe it was a comment on Trump's America, or maybe it's always been that way, which in itself heartbreaking, even before you figure in a ruined marriage. I can't saw reading this was a pleasurable experience, but it is certainly a tour de force of a novel and to be recommended.