RAINY DAY EXCERPTS: “AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE”

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, First Chapter/Intros, originally hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea and now hosted by I’d Rather Be at the Beach; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by The Purple Booker.

Today’s feature is a relatively new download:  An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones,  a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward–with hope and pain–into the future.

 

Intro:  (Roy)

There are two kinds of people in the world, those who leave home, and those who don’t.  I’m a proud member of the first category.  My wife, Celestial, used to say that I’m a country boy at the core, but I never cared for that designation.  For one, I’m not from the country per se.  Eloe, Louisiana, is a small town.  When you hear “country,” you think raising crops, baling hay, and milking cows.  Never in my life have I picked a single cotton boll, although my daddy did.  I have never touched a horse, goat, or pig, nor have I any desire to.  Celestial used to laugh, clarifying that she’s not saying I’m a farmer, just country.  She is from Atlanta, and there was a case to be made that she is country, too.  But let her tell it, she’s a “southern woman,” not to be confused with a “southern belle.”  For some reason, “Georgia peach” is all right with her, and it’s all right with me, so there you have it.

***

Teaser:  (Celestial)

I used to see him sometimes, so I had become accustomed to the stuttered breath, the dancing hairs on my suddenly cold arms and neck.  You can live with ghosts.  Gloria says that her mother returned to her every Sunday morning for over a year. (73%).

***

Synopsis:  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.

This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control.

***

What do you think?  Do you want to keep reading?

***