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A review by amyvl93
The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a really tricky one to review. There were moments where this book was truly beautiful, and other moments where it felt slightly baffling.
<i>The Prophets</i> follows Isaiah and Samuel, two slaves who have developed a deeply romantic relationship, and a sense of safety with each other amongst the hardship of the Halifax plantation- and explores how their relationship inspires and threatens others around them. It also explores topics of masculinity, fertility and the history of slavery more broadly.
Whilst the narrative is technically about Isaiah and Samuel, the story is told from numerous perspectives - including other slaves - both in the fields and in the house, the slave who has taken the role of spreading Christianity within the plantation, and the plantation owners themselves. Some of these perspectives felt more successful than others - I would echo other reviews that some of the characters felt like slightly repetitive archetypes.
There's a lot of very powerful writing in here, the narrative of people being removed from Africa and forced into slavery in the US was incredibly moving, and there are passages of real beauty and pain in describing the lives of the characters.
However, there were other moments when I felt the writing was just writing for the sake of it - and there are attempts at magical realism in the style of Toni Morrison which I don't think quite landed. This meant that there were times when I just didn't really want to pick this up, not because the subject matter was so unsettling, but because it felt like I was forcing myself through this.
<i>The Prophets</i> follows Isaiah and Samuel, two slaves who have developed a deeply romantic relationship, and a sense of safety with each other amongst the hardship of the Halifax plantation- and explores how their relationship inspires and threatens others around them. It also explores topics of masculinity, fertility and the history of slavery more broadly.
Whilst the narrative is technically about Isaiah and Samuel, the story is told from numerous perspectives - including other slaves - both in the fields and in the house, the slave who has taken the role of spreading Christianity within the plantation, and the plantation owners themselves. Some of these perspectives felt more successful than others - I would echo other reviews that some of the characters felt like slightly repetitive archetypes.
There's a lot of very powerful writing in here, the narrative of people being removed from Africa and forced into slavery in the US was incredibly moving, and there are passages of real beauty and pain in describing the lives of the characters.
However, there were other moments when I felt the writing was just writing for the sake of it - and there are attempts at magical realism in the style of Toni Morrison which I don't think quite landed. This meant that there were times when I just didn't really want to pick this up, not because the subject matter was so unsettling, but because it felt like I was forcing myself through this.