Tayari Jones – författare

”Ett amerikanskt äktenskap” är berättelsen om en kärlek som aldrig tillåts mogna. En drabbande och insiktsfull roman om ras och klass i dagens USA. Roy och Celestial personifierar den amerikanska drömmen och bilden av det nya svarta Södern. Han är ung affärsman, hon en lovande konstnär. Men precis när de ska inleda sitt liv tillsammans, händer något som sliter dem isär. Roy blir anklagad för ett brott som Celestial är övertygad om att han inte har begått, och han döms till tolv års fängelse. Trots att Celestial alltid varit självständig känner hon sig vilsen och övergiven, och när domen efter fem år upphävs och Roy kan återvända hem, är den kärlek som en gång fanns inte lika självklar. Går det att rädda ett äktenskap som berövats sitt fundament?

This much-anticipated and long-overdue installment in Akashic’s Noir Series reveals many sides of Atlanta only known to its residents.

“Atlanta has its share, maybe more than its share, of prosperity. But wealth is no safeguard against peril . . . Creepy as well as dark, grim in outlook . . . Hints of the supernatural may make these tales . . . appealing to lovers of ghost stories.” —Kirkus Reviews

Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. This much-anticipated and long-overdue installment in Akashic’s Noir Series reveals many sides of Atlanta known only to its residents.

Brand-new stories by: Tananarive Due, Kenji Jasper, Tayari Jones, Dallas Hudgens, Jim Grimsley, Brandon Massey, Jennifer Harlow, Sheri Joseph, Alesia Parker, Gillian Royes, Anthony Grooms, John Holman, Daniel Black, and David James Poissant.

From the introduction by Tayari Jones:

Atlanta itself is a crime scene. After all, Georgia was founded as a de facto penal colony and in 1864, Sherman burned the city to the ground. We might argue about whether the arson was the crime or the response to the crime, but this is indisputable: Atlanta is a city sewn from the ashes and everything that grows here is at once fertilized and corrupted by the past . . .

These stories do not necessarily conform to the traditional expectations of noir . . . However, they all share the quality of exposing the rot underneath the scent of magnolia and pine. Noir, in my opinion, is more a question of tone than content. The moral universe of the story is as significant as the physical space. Noir is a realm where the good guys seldom win; perhaps they hardly exist at all. Few bad deeds go unrewarded, and good intentions are not the road to hell, but are hell itself . . . Welcome to Atlanta Noir. Come sit on the veranda, or the terrace of a high-rise condo. Pour yourself a glass of sweet tea, and fortify it with a slug of bourbon. Put your feet up. Enjoy these stories, and watch your back.