AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE

Prepare for better--and for worse. Narrators Eisa Davis and Sean Crisden skillfully portray Celestial and Roy, whose new marriage is interrupted by Roy's incarceration for a crime he didn't commit. In Part One, the narrators read the couple's letters so intimately that the listener may feel like an intruder. As months drag into years, each narrator coolly offers an invitation to feel the characters' doubt about the future of their marriage. In Parts Two and Three, the supporting characters are portrayed smoothly. Crisden delivers the interactions between the male characters at a dizzying pace. Davis's reading is solid yet soft, evoking sympathy and frustration with Celestial's longing for a different life. As every wedding vow is tested, the narrators breathe intensity into Jones's riveting prose. M.P.P. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2018]