An American Marriage

No notes, only praise

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones had been sitting in my “want to read” Goodreads shelf for months with no plans of seeking it out. This tends to be a habit of mine, books catching my eye and piquing my interest on Booktok or word of mouth, so I quickly add them to my Goodreads list never to be thought about again.

At the end of 2023 I scrolled through the list of books I read that year, reminiscing on the stories I was so privileged to encounter and then clicked over to my seemingly long “want to read” list to see if anything on it still held my attention. I was delighted to discover that much of the shelf did. Then and there I decided on how to tackle it. I had made a rule for myself to allow two books at one time. One that I read with my eyes and one that I read with my ears. So, moving forward, I would only seek out audio books from my “want to read” list.

Much to my surprise, An American Marriage was available on the Libby app with no holds and I started it immediately. The only feedback I have regarding my choice of reading it as an audiobook rather than a physical book is that upon finishing the story (and often in the middle) I found myself with a deep urge to embrace the book itself. I tend to do that with stories I adore.

An American Marriage is a deeply raw and emotional story about a young married couple whose lives are ripped apart when the husband is wrongly convicted of rape and sentenced to twelve years in prison. It’s a story that tests the limits of marital relationships, dives into the corrupt racism of our judicial system, and ultimately forces you to question right and wrong or more specifically what happens when there is no right or wrong, only impossible circumstances.

This is the first book I’ve read by Tayari Jones and I can’t wait to dive into another. An American Marriage was a story that reminded me why I love literary fiction so dearly and to lean my reading this year more into these deeply moving stories. Should you read it? I honestly can’t push this book towards you readers any quicker!