The Prophets

Incredible writing; a story of brutality, heartbreak, and love. This book will crush you but you will savor it anyway. Must read 💓

This is a truly innovative novel, poetic, spiritual, and emotionally gripping. Unlike anything else I have read about the experience of slavery.

Absolutely one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

"You are not lost so much as you are betrayed by fools who mistook glimmer for power. They gave away all the symbols that hold sway.” - R. Jones, Jr. Delicious. Ingenious. Insanely brilliant. This book was quintessentially Baldwin-esque in the way that Baldwin could leave you awestruck with a sentence causing you to wonder how in the world he conjured it up. The sentence itself more than mere invention, more than simply intellect, much more than pathos, it was beautiful, profound, and thought-provoking in so. many ways. Jones masterfully applies this technique. Genesis is the chapter that I believe I loved most. Thank you for this timely offering and an invitation to see in a fresh light. Toubabs and all. I believe the book lives up to its name.

THE PROPHETS is a novel about ancestors and heritage, families not created by biology. Set in a plantation in Mississippi in the early 1800s, two men, slaves Isaiah and Samuel spend days working in the barn, lovers at night. Structured as chapters with titles like books of the Bible (Kings II, Numbers, etc.) each chapter is from the perspective of a different person on the plantation, from other slaves, women and men, to the white master, his wife, their son, and his cousin, an overseer. At times there are even chapters that are poetic acting almost like a Greek chorus of voices. Some chapters are also about the kidnapping and torture of Africans who are brought to the United States as slaves. This book is beautifully written, lyrical, poetic. I was drawn most to the story of the two men at the center of the book. Their relationship was beautiful and heartbreaking. In addition, I was absorbed in the chapters about Africa, which paralleled the present day story. This book gave me so much to think about. Themes of ancestry and family, repeat over and over. The white people have the luxury of knowing their heritage, their families, their given names. While the slaves were all separated from their families, their parents, their homes, their lovers, over and over. The names, identities of the slaves are not their own but the stripping of all humanity by white people. Each slave has his or her own story as well whether one of the master’s children or raising and nursing the children of other slaves. I recommend this book for anyone to see all the horrors of slavery told with beauty and power. I did struggle with this book at times. I don’t understand the purpose of the chapters from the perspective of the white people and I don’t know if they were necessary. Bouncing between events and character perspectives became frustrating and diluted the power of the central narrative. I did love the parts from Africa and all of the characters were so well developed. CW: contains slavery, violence, rape, abuse. ★★★★★ • Hardcover • Fiction - Literary • Published by Putnam Books on January 5, 2021. ◾︎

There’s a saying, “Black Joy is Revolutionary.” Nothing sparks joy more than love — being in it or witness to it. And nothing is more anointed or more deserving of reverence, even if the love may be beyond our own understanding. This book is about Black love and joy. And it is revolutionary.