Book Cover Image of The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.

The Prophets
by Robert Jones, Jr.

Publication Date: Jan 05, 2021
List Price: $27.00
Format: Hardcover, 400 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9780593085684
Imprint: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann

Hardcover Description:

  • #1 Indie Next Pick
  • The New York Times Book Review’s Books to Watch for in January
  • The Washington Post’s 10 Books to Read in January
  • TIME’s 10 New Books You Should Read in January
  • O, the Oprah Magazine’s 32 LGBTQ Books That Will Change the Literary Landscape in 2021
  • Good Morning America’s Best Books to Read this January
  • CNN’s Best Books of January
  • Harper’s Bazaar’s Winter’s Best New Releases
  • BuzzFeed’s Most Anticipated Historical Fiction of 2021
  • PopSugar’s Best Books of January
  • Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2021
  • Electric Literature’s Most Anticipated Debuts of 2021
  • The Millions’ Most Anticipated Books of 2021
  • Debutiful’s Best Debuts of January
  • Lambda Literary’s Most Anticipated LGBTQ Books of January
  • LGBTQ Read’s Most Anticipated LGBTQIAP Fiction of 2021 Picks
  • Kirkus Reviews’ Most Anticipated Books of the Fall

Instant New York Times Bestseller
May this book cast its spell on all of us, restore to us some memory of our most warrior and softest selves. —The New York Times Book Review
“A new kind of epic…A grand achievement…While The Prophets’ dreamy realism recalls the work of Toni Morrison…its penetrating focus on social dynamics stands out more singularly.” —Entertainment Weekly

A singular and stunning debut 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 enslaved alike, from Isaiah and Samuel to the calculating slave master 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—culminates 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.



book cover The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.Books similiar to The Prophets may be found in the categories below: