Feb 28

Feb 28 The Prophets

Author: Robert Jones Jr.
Publisher: G.P. Putnam
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

A novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence.

Isaiah was Samuel’s and Samuel was Isaiah’s. That was the way it was since the beginning, and the way it was to be until the end. In the barn they tended to the animals, but also to each other, transforming the hollowed-out shed into a place of human refuge, a source of intimacy and hope in a world ruled by vicious masters. But when an older man — a fellow slave — seeks to gain favor by preaching the master’s gospel on the plantation, the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel’s love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation’s harmony.

With a lyricism reminiscent of Toni Morrison, Robert Jones, Jr. fiercely summons the voices of slaver and the enslaved alike to tell the story of these two men; from Amos the preacher to the calculating slave-master himself to the long line of women that surround them, women who have carried the soul of the plantation on their shoulders. As tensions build and the weight of centuries — of ancestors and future generations to come — culminate in a climactic reckoning, The Prophets masterfully reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love.

TL;DR Review

The Prophets is gorgeous, emotional, ambitious, incredible debut. One to be read slowly and savored. It deserves all the attention it’s gotten.

For you if: You like emotional literary fiction with poetic prose.

Full Review

“Samuel had told Isaiah earlier in the morning to let himself lie, let himself rest, remember the moments. It would be considered theft here, he knew, but to him, it was impossible to steal what was already yours — or should have been.”

As soon as you start reading The Prophets, you know that you’re in for something reverent. The references to Toni Morrison and James Baldwin hold up. Equally hopeful and devastating, rich with meaning and tradition, and written with prose that leaps off the page and sings, this is one I could easily see being nominated for the Booker Prize.

The Prophets takes place on a Southern plantation, passing narration among a sweeping set of characters and centering on two enslaved men, Samuel and Isaiah. They fit together, are just plain right together. But eventually, the knowledge of who they are to one another begins to make its way to the family who owns the plantation. Infused into the story are the voices of ancestors, the story of a people torn apart by the slave trade, and so much more.

The longer I let this story sit, the more impressed I become by its scope and ambition. I barely even feel fit to review it. There were a few moments where I felt lost or had trouble with the pacing, but it’s important to keep in mind that this book — and especially the parts I stumbled on — was not written for me. Overall, The Prophets is a masterpiece, and critics know it.