Sixth Summer Read, 2019: Jones

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
This one is for you, Emma (@Comment_Ed).

I can’t help but compare this to To Kill a Mockingbird. Rather than ending the book on an innocent black man being sentenced for a crime he didn’t commit, this novel starts with it (a rape in both cases). Rather than the novel being about how white people live in their southern town, it’s about how black people live in their southern town. Rather than the black man being shot and dying before he got a chance of parole, it is about a man black man being set free.

Not only does it show how America still judges people, and how the justice system may still be unjust, but it does show how it’s changing (albeit gradually) due to freedom being given.

Structurally, the mirroring of character narratives is clever where the dramatic irony is that the reader can create their own version of events by knowing all the points of view. It’s intimate through the epistolary section at the beginning. We feel like prying eyes which is always enjoyable.

Half way through and I’m rooting for Roy and Celestial (lovely name). There’s something about Andre that I don’t trust.

View at the end: I like the different narrative perspectives as it’s told through the 3 characters but it didn’t end how I thought. I guess it’s realistic and honest which is more true representation of life than the fairy-tale endings of some.

It had the potential to be the next Mockingbird. It left me with the harsh feeling of the hardships that humans go through to be happy and that you can’t force love, no matter how hard you try.

Sometimes, moving on and feeling at peace with yourself is more important.

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