This is not a book for the feint hearted as it centres on slavery and all the horrors and brutality that go with it. It tells the story of the forbidden love and ultimate betrayal of black gay slaves Samuel and Isaiah.

The writing is very well done with history woven with biblical references in a lyrical style. Some parts have so much richness within them that you feel you need to reread and really focus in order to grasp all of the meaning. However, it was not a story I enjoyed reading and maybe one that I should not have chosen in the first place as I find any writing about torture too disturbing. Reading it in the darkness of 2020 maybe did not help. I have no doubt that many will find it one of their top reads but it was not for me.

With thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

🌿BOOK REVIEW🌿

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr

🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼/5

TW// racism, slavery, sexual abuse, homophobia, physical assault

The Prophets is centred around Isaiah and Samuel who reside on the slave plantation dubbed “The Empty”. Their story is told not only through their own narrative, but also from the perspective of fellow slaves and slave master alike. When Amos, an older slave, wants to move himself up the hierarchy by becoming a preacher he betrays another and makes Isaiah’s and Samuel’s relationship dangerous to the harmony of the plantation.

No matter how long I spend on a review for this book, it will never do justice to how impactful and beautiful it is. Starting with Isaiah and Samuel who are each other’s rock and support, their love for each other is obvious. But homosexuality is not allowed and the two are punished for this, not only from the slave master but from their fellow slaves. We also hear the perspective from women in the plantation and these narratives explore the complexities of racism and sexism. It shows how women were responsible for healing beaten slaves back to life and were often the backbone of these communities.

This is a story of domination: slave owners dominating slaves, men dominating women and straight people dominating queer people. Every single chapter was hard hitting, each in its own way and even though there were many individual stories they all came together to explore central issues.

This is one of the most heartbreaking and emotional books I’ve ever read and I really do recommend it if you are looking for a black, queer book!

Thank you so much to Viking Publishing for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley.

I have little doubt that this story of forbidden love and betrayal of slaves Samuel and Isaiah will be one of the most talked about books of 2021, probably to critically acclaim and could well be a contender for literary awards, that’s how good the quality of the writing is. The story centres on the Elizabeth Plantation owned by Paul and Ruth Halifax and their son Timothy and is simply known as Empty to the slaves. The story is Biblical, it’s epic and some chapters are Old Testament books whose words are indeed prophetic. It doesn’t just cover events on the plantation but backtracks via chapters like Kings I and II to the arrival in Africa of slave traders and the slave ships.

This is one of the most affecting books I have read, it pulls absolutely no punches either on the love between ‘The Two of Them’ or on the barbarity and cruelty of slavery. It makes you ashamed especially when later in the book via Samuel you appreciate the emptiness that is felt inside in order to cope which is similar to Nazi camp survivors descriptions. Words like ‘indifference’ are daggers to the heart. Some sections are hard to read as they are graphic but this story cannot be sanitised. Some parts I have to reread to be sure I’ve understood so I’m not going to pretend it’s an easy read as it’s clearly not but it’s well worth the effort. Although sections are horrifying at the heart of the book it’s a story of deep love and not just between Samuel and Isaiah. There are a lot of characters and my initial thoughts are there are too many but I soon realise I’m wrong. The multiple points of view is very illuminating as we see differing perspectives especially about Samuel and Isaiah. The characters are vivid and come to life before our eyes especially the two men at the centre of the storm but also Maggie and Amos. Some of the voices that echo the loudest are the ‘toubabs’ - Ruth, Paul and Timothy, especially Paul. His voice comes across loud and clear which initially surprises me but it fits with his position at the apex of the plantation slave version of the feudal system. All three toubabs are immoral in more ways than one. The ending blows my mind. It’s devastatingly powerful, jaw dropping and amazing.

Overall, this book will live with me for a long time. It’s vivid, the characters come to life, it’s deeply emotional and affecting. It’s lyrical, biblical, magical, and spiritual with the ever present threat, inhumanity, degradation and cruelty of slavery. Yes, it’s a hard book to read but it’s one that should be read.

5 powerful stars.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Quercus /riverrun and Robert Jones Jnr for the much appreciated arc for an honest review.

I learned more about the history and reality of the slave trade from this book than from any number of history lessons.

Set on but not confined to a US plantation known as Empty, the book succeeds in giving the humanity back to every person it discusses.

It’s the accumulation of ordinary voices that is so overpowering and moving. The true impact of each story is felt as we hear how each individual has endured horrors at the hands of their captors.

The lyrical prose has a powerful pull that takes you through the book, relationships both willing and unwilling are explored to good effect aa we try to make sense of a terrible situation.

The sadness of the ending is very real, and is a strong finish to an extremely moving book. Read it and be witness to it.

A wonderful, amazing book. The lyrical writing was so captivating and brought you straight into the story. All of the characters were beautifully written and the different points of view brought each person to life. The ending was heartbreaking.

I would fully recommend this book to anyone. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a review.

To put it simply there just aren’t superlatives enough to do this book justice. What a novel. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year and it is book #123 so far which shows you how good this book is.
I consider myself well read, literate, familiar with history, the bible and various languages and dialects but this book showed me that I am a grain of salt on the back of an elephant. So many times I had to read and reread passages to make sure I’d understood them fully and got every nuance, I don’t think I’ve EVER highlighted as many sentences as there were so many I was dying to tell my daughter or friends. Jones has a unique voice and what a beautiful tone that voice has.
As a white woman I have no place talking about race, but I believe this taught me even more than I thought I’d learned this year about white privilege. As a Christian it also provided some serious food for thought as to the role missionaries played and how the gospel music I’ve always loved is in fact slaves assimilating into their captors culture and losing their own religions and beliefs. I think for a passionately Christian African American this book will be startling and provoke some very interesting discussion.
I’m also in awe and incredibly impressed how well a male author dealt with sexism and the roles of women. This man knows and I hope many others follow him in using their novels to demonstrate their understanding.
I don’t know how he does it but the author loves words and they clearly love him. The book despite being told from many viewpoints (including some narrative voices that aren’t mortal) and from different times, flows effortlessly. You can hear the crickets in the evening, feel the pain of scratched hands, a damaged hip, smell the sweat of a hard days toil and hear the horses snort in their stalls. The tempo changes and somehow (and I feel slightly crazy for saying it) the light changes when the scenes move between the barn and the big house.
The characters. I can’t even begin to talk about the characters and how close I hold them to me despite having finished the book yesterday evening. Maggie, Samuel, Isaiah, Be Auntie... all of them so real, so fully fleshed out and unique but also utterly believable. I can’t say much of what I want to say because I hate reviews with spoilers but suffice it to say, I felt these characters. Just as I was beginning to think the plantation owners were a little two dimensional along comes a deep dive into their past, their motivations and experiences which makes them just as contemptible but with some human features.
I’m going to guess that this novel wasn’t written in 2020 and has been years in the making which makes one of the lines I highlighted so startling and prophetic (funny that, given the title!)
“They stepped on people’s throats with all their might and asked why the people couldn’t breathe. And then, when people made an attempt to break the foot, or cut it off one, they screamed “CHAOS!” and claimed that mass murder was the only way to restore order”
It left me breathless. Go buy this book. Buy two and give one to a friend. Better still, buy three and leave one somewhere in public for a stranger to pick up.

This is a powerful novel that revisits the sickening horrors of US slavery but it's also a book that I felt ill-equipped to read since so much of it depends on biblical intertexts, from names to chapter headings - without having that biblical knowledge, I felt that some of the significance was being lost on me.

The language is dynamic, mingling dialects with a biblical formality as voices emerge then are submerged again. There's a sense of community, of factions and breakdowns that supersede the obvious divisions of slave-owners and slaves. Amidst all the violence and violations against humanity are moments of joy: most markedly between the two young male slaves who love each other, but also from mothers even as their love and families are thwarted and broken apart.

This has an epic feel which makes the biblical and religious components relevant - and I'm sad that my own lack of religion kept me from fully entering into the powerful vision that drives the book.