Celestial and Roy are newlyweds. Roy is a young executive and Celestial is an artist. Their lives is disembarked when Roy is falsely accused of rape. He is sentenced to 12 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Celestial takes comfort in her closest friend arms. When Roy’s sentence is cut short by 7 years, he returns to his wife and tries to resume their life as a married couple ‘husband and wife’.
Celestial and Roy’s story is moving. Relationships are hard as it is but to add prison, distance, separation and a 12 years sentence – I didn’t see this marriage working. I appreciate the author for writing this story with a touch of wisdom and a balance of reality. The story is about how incarceration hurts and breaks relationships.
“Dre, we have so much, she said and he has nothing. Not even his mother.”
Tayari Jones narrated the story in three (3) Point of Views (PoVs) – Roy, Celestial and Andre. Tayari Jones is an amazing writer. She pulled off 3 POVs easily pushing the lives of her characters forward.
I also liked how the writer subtly discusses injustice and racism in the book – so soft, so delicate yet so relevant. Brilliant! I loved the exchange of letters between Roy and Celestial – that part of the book felt out of place yet so real.
Each character was flawed and acting out of passion and hope, I just couldn’t take sides. This book evoked every emotion in me – loss, death, survival, hope, sadness and pity. You can’t help but empathize with the characters and understand their choices.
Roy and Celestial’s story will live with me for a long time.
This book is deep and thought-provoking.
We see marriages as fairytales with happy endings but relationships and marriages are full of complexities.
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