Pleasure without guilt about “An American Marriage” by Tayari Jones.

High expectations of the book can be fatal. If I didn't expect so much from Tayari Jones's An American Marriage, I'd probably be happier after reading. However, because I was waiting for something really great, and I just got a good novel, I didn't feel completely satisfied. Nevertheless, it is a good book and its reading brings several surprises.

Roy and Celeste are a young, black married couple. They are in love, but their relationship is certainly not perfect. They are just beginning to finding their place in this marriage when as a result of a fatal coincidence Roy is accused of rape and sentenced to many years in prison. Of course, the color of his skin is not without significance, and although they both learned to live in a society that is still steeped in racism, they did not expect such a life. Around this monstrous injustice is the plot of the book, which, however, will not relate to the fight for Roy's innocence. The subject of the book is included in the title. Tayari Jones writes about what happens to two people, each of whom came to live in diametrically different places, about how both the convict's wife and himself change. She writes about unfulfilled expectations, stubborn hope and senseless, relentless distance from each other.

Much of the book is made up of Roy and Celeste letters, intimate and painful, mercilessly showing how difficult it is to communicate people who are so far apart. We also have three narrators who present their own point of view, equally effectively showing misunderstanding and divergent desires. Not much is happening here, and at the same time there are surprises. The feeling of being lost and regret dominates.

The author devoted the most attention to Roy and it is on his side that we probably stand most often. Celeste is absent, just as she was absent in Roy's prison life. For this reason, it is harder to understand her, she seems to be a flat and passive figure. She is an artist, she has ambitions, and the initial scenes reveal her strong character, but then she practically disappears. She becomes the object of longing and desire, but we do not know what she wants and who she has become.

Anyway, the biggest weakness of this book are just simplifications. I have the impression that the life choices of all the characters result from just a few motives. I do not see their dilemmas, I only see unrealized expectations. Celeste is probably in the most difficult situation and it is she who must make the choice. The novel loses a lot because her character often stays somewhere in the background. History with great potential turns out to be relatively banal.

The most interesting turned out to be what the author left unsaid. Of course, not everything can be put into words, broken down and explained. Perhaps the strength of this book lies in weaknesses?

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