“Atlanta is where I learned the rules and learned them quick. No one ever called me stupid. But home isn’t where you land; home is where you launch. You can’t pick your home any more than you can choose your family. In poker, you get five cards. Three of them you can swap out, but two are yours to keep: family and native land.” –Roy Othaniel Hamilton Jr in An American Marriage 

Roy and his wife Celestial are a young, attractive, highly-educated African American couple on the way to living their dreams in Atlanta– he as a rising executive and she as a folk artist dollmaker.  Then they find themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time, and Roy is arrested and convicted of rape, shattering their world.  What will their marriage become after Roy’s incarceration, and can it possibly survive? 

This book was read by Susan Baker, Main Campus Librarian. 

Title: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Genre: Realistic, contemporary fiction

Reading Great Things 2021 Challenge Categories: A book recommended by Durham Tech Library staff, A book About social justice or equity, A book about family

This book was read by Susan Baker, Main Campus Librarian.