Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy's time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy's conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.
This book is so raw, intimate, powerful. You feel like you're in the heads of the characters, feeling everything they feel, every messy, ugly, honest emotion.
The climax meanders a bit, and there's a deus ex machina character in there. These minor quibbles aside, the book is very good. Especially the letters between Roy and Celeste - so darn powerful.
