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Jones wanted to write a story about gay slaves because none have been written. “The Prophets” by Robert Jones Jr is a lyrical love story of two gay boys during antebellum time in Mississippi. I listened, and relistened, and will surely go back again to reexperience the profound beauty of this masterpiece.

This is where I became completely mesmerized by narrator Karen Chilton’s performance. Mixed in are chapters told in first person plural-where the old gods of Africa, watching over the descendants of those who worshiped them, share wisdom and serve as witnesses. Told from the perspective of an array of characters, the narrative is largely in third person, with each chapter coming from a different perspective. They have always been known as an inseparable pair, but as their romantic love is revealed to others, they begin to find themselves in increasing danger. This epic historical fiction tells the story of Samuel and Isaiah-two enslaved men in love on a Deep South plantation. Robert Jones, Jr.’s prose is lyrical, challenging, beautiful, and horrifying. The Prophets is a debut novel by a writer with an extraordinary gift for storytelling. As tensions build and the weight of centuries - of ancestors and future generations to come - culminates in a climactic reckoning, The Prophets fearlessly reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love. 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. Isaiah and Samuel's love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation's harmony. 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.

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. That was the way it was since the beginning, and the way it was to be until the end. Isaiah was Samuel's and Samuel was Isaiah's. One of the New York Times ' Best Historical Fiction of the YearĪ 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. One of the New York Times ' Notable Books of the Year