The Untelling

Aria is no stranger to tragedy. Fifteen years ago, a family outing took the lives of her father and baby sister, leaving remaining members of this fractured family struggling to live with their own guilt--real and imagined. At 25, Aria believes she can reinvent herself through her planned marriage, with all its promise of a family of her own. But the reality of infertility changes Ariaís life as swiftly and irrevocably as the urban landscape around her. With prose that is both eloquent and unflinching, Jones charts the emotional journey of her characters as they explore the painful territory of truth and the healing landscape of forgiveness.

"The legacy of a fatal accident haunts surviving family members in Jones's deep-felt second novel (after Leaving Atlanta). As a young girl, native Atlantan Aria Jackson lost her father and baby sister in a car accident; her inability to comfort her dying father, and her mother's failed effort to save the baby, have damaged their relationship. After graduating from Spelman, Aria goes to work at a local literacy center, where she is drawn to outspoken Keisha Evers, a young teen pregnant with her second child. When Aria believes she is pregnant, she confides in Keisha before sharing the news with her fianc, Dwayne. But when mysterious cramping sends her to the doctor, Aria learns that she is not pregnant but instead experiencing very early menopause. Reluctant to tell Dwayne the truth, Aria claims to have lost the baby. Dwayne's desire for a child remains strong, and Aria watches with growing envy as Keisha's pregnancy progresses. When a second doctor confirms Aria's condition, she is forced to make difficult choices with the shadow of her past looming over her. The first-person narration is convincing and genuine, and Jones handles her material with sensitivity and sympathy. This strong sophomore effort will bolster her reputation." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

- This is tayari Jones's follow-up to her critically acclaimed debut, Leaving Atlanta (Warner, 0-446-52830-7, 8/02), winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. It was also named Best Novel of the Year by Atlanta Magazine, was a 2002 Washington Post Book World Rave, was one of the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Ten Books Well Worth Reading (2002), and was Creative Loafing Magazine's #1 Buzz-worthy Southern Novel. Black Issues Book Review named Tayari Jones Best New Author that year.

- An excerpt from The Untelling has already been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

- The success of her first novel catapulted Tayari Jones into elite company and earned her fellowships to Breadloaf, Sewanee, the MacDowell Artists Colony, Yaddo, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Building on the success of her astonishing debut, "Leaving Atlanta," Tayari Jones delivers a compassionate story of one woman daring to confront the trauma of her past.

TAYARI JONES lives in Illinois.