As in his novels, he shifts gears easily between the comic and the melancholy, the whimsical and the serious, demonstrating once again his ability to write about the big subjects of love and memory and regret without falling prey to the Scylla and Charybdis of cynicism and sentimentality.” That has been true from her very first book, but with An American Marriage that vision, that strength and that truth-telling voice have found a new level of artistry and power.“Chabon has always been a magical prose stylist, adept at combining the sort of social and emotional detail found in Philip Roth’s Goodbye, Columbus stories with the metaphor-rich descriptions of John Updike and John Irving’s inventive sleight of hand. “Tayari Jones is blessed with vision to see through to the surprising and devastating truths at the heart of ordinary lives, strength to wrest those truths free, and a gift of language to lay it all out, compelling and clear. “It’s among Tayari’s many gifts that she can touch us soul to soul with her words.”

An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward- with hope and pain- into the future.

This stirring love story is a deeply insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding.

Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. They are settling into the routine of their life together, when they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. He is a young executive and she is artist on the brink of an exciting career. Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South.

Moonglow by michael chabon summary