An American Marriage (Oprah's Book Club): A Novel

Roy and Celestial are newlyweds when Roy is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and given a lengthy prison sentence. As Celestial faces a life alone and Roy faces a life in prison, they discover the power of love, and its limits.

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Published Feb 5, 2019

336 pages

Average rating: 7.2

1,008 RATINGS

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Denver-Berkeley Book Club

We meet monthly online and in-person around the Berkeley neighborhood of Denver, CO. We focus on one genre every few months, from memoirs to fiction.

Get Lit...A Los Angeles Book Club

We are a fun, lively and social book club that meets every month in Los Angeles. Come Get Lit!

Classic African American Literature

We read cultural classics and contemporary literature with a focus on books that tell the story of the African, African American, and Indigenous (Native) experience. Nothing is off-limits.

Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *An American Marriage* is a powerful, thought-provoking exploration of love, commitment, and racial injustice, praised for its authentic p...

thenextgoodbook
Sep 04, 2025
8/10 stars
thenextgoodbook.com
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
306 pages

What’s it about?
Celestial and Roy are a young, black, upwardly mobile couple who are newly married and starting a life together. When Roy is mistakenly sent to prison their lives change forever.

What did it make me think about?
This book is about marriage, commitment, and family. It is also about the experience of being a black man in America. Ms. Jones story draws us all in by the universal truths she tells about relationships- but she also shares a viewpoint that many of us (by the color of our skin) can not be familiar with.

Should I read it?
I liked this book- but did not love this book. I can’t put my finger on why I didn’t just love it. I could understand where Celestial was coming from- but I did not always like her very much. Maybe this was my stumbling block. This book was timely, well written, and thought provoking. I would recommend it- it would be a good book club choice.

Quote-
"Human emotion is beyond comprehension, smooth and uninterrupted, like an orb made of glass.”


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LTC
Nov 20, 2024
10/10 stars
Book #43: Laura C's pick. The meeting was rescheduled to 6/29/19 but we never met to discuss.
Sandiejo20
Apr 26, 2022
7/10 stars
Real life story. Nothing dramatized or over developed. Loves the POV change each chapter and the life lessons. This book makes you understand each person's perspective in a deep manner and not surface level. You feel for each person.
Cydneejo
Dec 29, 2020
8/10 stars
Quite good.
TheBookishOne
Dec 27, 2025
8/10 stars
Good read.

Good read. It started slow for me but got better as it moved a
along. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

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