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bookish_brooklyn 's review for:
The Prophets
by Robert Jones, Jr.
Earlier this month I was lucky enough to receive a Proof Copy of The Prophets from the fabulous team at Hachette Books Australia to read and review, also to read alongside a bunch of other awesome bloggers and bookstagrammers, with the readalong hosted by the lovely Tandem Collective Global Team. I must admit though, I found myself caught up in a couple other books too during the duration of the readalong (the Tell Me Lies Readalong was running concurrently) so I did fall slightly behind with The Prophets. Alas though, I’ve finished it now and I cannot urge everyone enough to add it to one’s TBR. I know I’ve requested that my local Library purchase a copy, it’s truly essential reading, I feel!
The Prophets is honestly one of the most raw and heart wrenching books I’ve ever read, honestly I didn’t know what to expect when I first went into it, although I will say that I was instantly moved by the Authors’ letter at the preface of the book, a couple sentences I’ll quote here:
‘Love, in all of its permutations, is the discovery at the heart of The Prophets: hard or soft, withheld or freely given; healing or wounding, but always revealing…’
It is completely and utterly love that does sit at the core of this beautifully poignant and heart wrenching novel, I can freely admit that in all earnest, The Prophets is honestly one of the hardest books I’ve tried to do justice via a review. The Prophets will completely haunt you, tug at your heartstrings at every point throughout, honestly there were many a moment throughout where I was completely gasping at what I read, having to pause reading the book so as to ingest everything that was happening!
Robert Jones Jr’s absolutely stellar debut takes place on a Halifax Plantation, known as Empty (completely aptly named, given how soul destroying it is to those who toil hard there, all under the watchful gaze of the owner, Massa Paul). Samuel and Isaiah, two young men who are two of the slaves among many at Empty, find solace, comfort and love in one another, they can enjoy one another completely, away from prying eyes in the barn of the Plantation, a haven for them both, Samuel and Isaiah. Isaiah and Samuel.
Except, there’s also Amos. Who cottons onto the fact that Isiah and Samuel are quite closer than close and believes its up to him to carry out the preaching, mirroring that of Massa Paul’s gospel, Amos completely betrays both young boys! Honestly, just think about all the literal hardships that everyone on the plantation would’ve been exposed to and we completely get more than a taste of that (honestly, if you read The Prophets, which I completely encourage that you do, try and maintain a good headspace when you do so, purely because it’s a dark, intense read of all the proportions!).
The writing throughout The Prophets is completely evocative, emotive, picturesque (in all its symbolism, there’s quite a lot of Bible references throughout, each chapter heading (and even characters’ names sharing biblical figures’ names) and harrowing, so much so when I first started reading it, I couldn’t stop pondering over the literal brutality of it, what the characters had to horribly go through, I honestly found myself welling up when I was out and about, thinking about Isaiah and Samuel!
It’s also completely worth mentioning that The Prophets is not only told from Samuel and Isaiah’s points of views, but there are flashbacks of lyrical proportions and significance, but also we get to know the thoughts and inner feelings of other slaves too, namely their own thoughts on the two young men. The Prophets is definitely not a book I’ll be forgetting anytime soon and I cannot recommend it enough!
The Prophets is honestly one of the most raw and heart wrenching books I’ve ever read, honestly I didn’t know what to expect when I first went into it, although I will say that I was instantly moved by the Authors’ letter at the preface of the book, a couple sentences I’ll quote here:
‘Love, in all of its permutations, is the discovery at the heart of The Prophets: hard or soft, withheld or freely given; healing or wounding, but always revealing…’
It is completely and utterly love that does sit at the core of this beautifully poignant and heart wrenching novel, I can freely admit that in all earnest, The Prophets is honestly one of the hardest books I’ve tried to do justice via a review. The Prophets will completely haunt you, tug at your heartstrings at every point throughout, honestly there were many a moment throughout where I was completely gasping at what I read, having to pause reading the book so as to ingest everything that was happening!
Robert Jones Jr’s absolutely stellar debut takes place on a Halifax Plantation, known as Empty (completely aptly named, given how soul destroying it is to those who toil hard there, all under the watchful gaze of the owner, Massa Paul). Samuel and Isaiah, two young men who are two of the slaves among many at Empty, find solace, comfort and love in one another, they can enjoy one another completely, away from prying eyes in the barn of the Plantation, a haven for them both, Samuel and Isaiah. Isaiah and Samuel.
Except, there’s also Amos. Who cottons onto the fact that Isiah and Samuel are quite closer than close and believes its up to him to carry out the preaching, mirroring that of Massa Paul’s gospel, Amos completely betrays both young boys! Honestly, just think about all the literal hardships that everyone on the plantation would’ve been exposed to and we completely get more than a taste of that (honestly, if you read The Prophets, which I completely encourage that you do, try and maintain a good headspace when you do so, purely because it’s a dark, intense read of all the proportions!).
The writing throughout The Prophets is completely evocative, emotive, picturesque (in all its symbolism, there’s quite a lot of Bible references throughout, each chapter heading (and even characters’ names sharing biblical figures’ names) and harrowing, so much so when I first started reading it, I couldn’t stop pondering over the literal brutality of it, what the characters had to horribly go through, I honestly found myself welling up when I was out and about, thinking about Isaiah and Samuel!
It’s also completely worth mentioning that The Prophets is not only told from Samuel and Isaiah’s points of views, but there are flashbacks of lyrical proportions and significance, but also we get to know the thoughts and inner feelings of other slaves too, namely their own thoughts on the two young men. The Prophets is definitely not a book I’ll be forgetting anytime soon and I cannot recommend it enough!