Tayari Jones wins Women's Prize for 'An American Marriage'

LONDON (AP) - U.S. writer Tayari Jones has won the Women's Prize for fiction with her novel "An American Marriage."

Jones' best-selling novel - selected by Oprah Winfrey for her book club - centers on a successful African-American couple in Atlanta whose marriage is tested by when the husband is imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit.

Historian Kate Williams, who chaired the judging panel, called the novel "a story of love, loss and intimacy . that shines a light on today's America."

Jones on Wednesday beat five other finalists: Nigeria's Oyinkan Braithwaite, U.S. author Madeline Miller and U.K. writers Pat Barker, Diana Evans and Anna Burns, winner of last year's Booker Prize.

Founded in 1996, the 30,000-pound ($38,000) prize is open to female English-language writers from around the world.