An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

A captivating love story that is also a clear-eyed look at the effects of injustice in contemporary American life, Tayari Jones's novel gorgeously chronicles three people who are bound together and separated by forces beyond their control. As newlyweds, Celestial and Roy are living the American Dream. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But after Roy's incarceration for a crime that he did not commit, Celestial bereft and unmoored, turns to childhood friend and Roy's best man, Andre, for support. As Roy's absence drags on, Celestial faces soul-wrenching decisions about balancing loyalty with independence, desire with social and familial expectations, and what is right with what is fair— and to whom.

Gripping, timely and masterful, An American Marriage looks deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward—with hope and pain—into the future.