Gather with fellow readers this fall at Flyleaf Books on Oct 22 & 29 from 10am - 12pm to discuss 'An American Marriage' by Tayari Jones. Facilitated by UNC PhD Candidate, Alexandra Odom. $40 includes both sessions and a copy of the book! Register for in-person or virtual spot at go.unc.edu/bookclub3

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones - 2019 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work. Longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award. 

Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.

“Tayari Jones is a bard of the modern South, a writer whose skill at weaving stories is matched only by her compassion for her characters. While An American Marriage confronts thorny issues around race and the criminal justice system it is, at heart, a love story. It’s also a meditation on the creation of art, the meaning of family and the conflict between duty and desire. Jones has crafted a complex, layered story that’s both intimate and broad, a literary page-turner that’s impossible to put down.”
—The Los Angeles Times