An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
An American Marriage is the story of Celestial and Roy, a young couple trying to navigate love and marriage. An unforeseen event lands Roy in prison for a crime he didn't commit. That is of course where things begin to fall apart.
Celestial is a spoiled self centered young artist who wants what she wants, when she wants it. When Roy is no longer around to cater to her every wish, she turns to her childhood friend, Andre. A love triangle is often the downfall of many American marriages regardless of race, religion or economic position in society. Roy is helpless to defend his love for her because he's stuck in jail.
The writing in this book is wonderful. It is full of jailhouse letters and I always love a good story revolving around handwritten letters. The author created great characters, who I could choose to love or hate. I never warmed up to Celestial, who in my mind was a spoiled brat from a wealthy family. Roy grew up poor, in a loving family, who taught him to reach for more out of life. So when he moved to the big city and found the charming and beautiful Celestial, he believed he's succeeded. But life happened all around them and they had no foundation for support.
For the first half of this book I felt this American marriage had nothing to do with the American marriage I was living in. I didn't relate to their self serving approach to those around them. As the story progressed I came to see that this really was the story of an American marriage. We glamorize love, flowers, and over the top weddings every day on television and in the movies. Young girls grow up thinking that's what marriage is and that love will keep us together.
Marriage is hard work and is the foundation of a good, stable family life. Until we start instilling those ideas in our children, our divorce rate will continue to climb and our society will fracture. Celestial and Roy never saw anything past their own desire and I came to realize that this book was spot on in describing An American Marriage.
An American Marriage is the story of Celestial and Roy, a young couple trying to navigate love and marriage. An unforeseen event lands Roy in prison for a crime he didn't commit. That is of course where things begin to fall apart.
Celestial is a spoiled self centered young artist who wants what she wants, when she wants it. When Roy is no longer around to cater to her every wish, she turns to her childhood friend, Andre. A love triangle is often the downfall of many American marriages regardless of race, religion or economic position in society. Roy is helpless to defend his love for her because he's stuck in jail.
The writing in this book is wonderful. It is full of jailhouse letters and I always love a good story revolving around handwritten letters. The author created great characters, who I could choose to love or hate. I never warmed up to Celestial, who in my mind was a spoiled brat from a wealthy family. Roy grew up poor, in a loving family, who taught him to reach for more out of life. So when he moved to the big city and found the charming and beautiful Celestial, he believed he's succeeded. But life happened all around them and they had no foundation for support.
For the first half of this book I felt this American marriage had nothing to do with the American marriage I was living in. I didn't relate to their self serving approach to those around them. As the story progressed I came to see that this really was the story of an American marriage. We glamorize love, flowers, and over the top weddings every day on television and in the movies. Young girls grow up thinking that's what marriage is and that love will keep us together.
Marriage is hard work and is the foundation of a good, stable family life. Until we start instilling those ideas in our children, our divorce rate will continue to climb and our society will fracture. Celestial and Roy never saw anything past their own desire and I came to realize that this book was spot on in describing An American Marriage.
No comments:
Post a Comment