Real love blossoms even in a time of hate
The Prophets Robert Jones Jr. G.P. Putnam's Sons
The Prophets is a love story between two slaves, Samuel and Isaiah, who dare to love each other.
Their relationship sets off a chain of events on the aptly named Empty plantation in Mississippi, including malicious interference by a jealous older man who claims to preach the gospel.
The book also conjures a mythical African kingdom ruled by a female king where same-sex desire is honoured.
With this epic novel, Jones, who is known for his blogging and Twitter presence as Son of Baldwin, marks his entry into the literary arena.
Of the many forms of violence done to people of African descent in the diaspora, perhaps the most grave is the loss of meaningful connections to our past.
With family lines broken and ancestors diminished to figures on plantation ledgers and Christian names on bills of sale, Black people grieve for forebears whose recorded lives lack both facts and emotional texture.
In addition to this erasure, homophobia seeks to write Black queer desire and lives out of history.
This book reminds us slaves loved fiercely and dreamed freely.
Jones depicts Samuel and Isaiah's romance with beauty and tenderness.
Jones' writing is at its best when it tackles human-level interactions.
There are other passages where the prose feels clunky and effortful, and some readers may feel that the author drops the proverbial stitch in the delicate work of storytelling in favour of addressing historical, social and political issues.
The novel may also have benefited from more judicious editing to craft a more captivating and coherent plot.
Perhaps this narrative dissonance is indicative of Jones' attempt at experimentation.
It may also reflect the nagging lack of emotional and narrative closure that is emblematic of Black experience in the Americas.
Jones's debut novel is an important contribution to American letters, Black queer studies and the present moment's profound reckoning with the legacy of America's racialized violence.