Happy Valentine’s Day, friends! Today’s a day for love, togetherness, and, of course, reading my latest book review. So, since I am posting on Valentine’s Day, I’m doing a love story. But not just any love story. February is Black History Month, and I want to focus on black authors this month. (Truly race never plays a part in how I pick my books, but I figured this month is the perfect time to get into the many black-authored books I plan to read this year.) So, what book would be better for today than a black-authored love story? Nothing. So, that’s why this week I am reviewing The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr. For my cocktail, I am making a Tears of the Prophet, which is as good as it is pretty. Enjoy!
Tears of the Prophet Recipe
2oz Mandarin Vodka
3oz Pomegranate Juice
1 splash of Lavender Syrup*
Mint Leaves
*Lavender syrup is optional.
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add mandarin vodka, pomegranate juice, and lavender syrup, and shake for approximately 10 seconds. Then, strain into a martini glass and garnish with mint leaves to finish off.
My special ingredient this week is lavender syrup. I know I’ve used lavender syrup for a previous cocktail, but it worked for this one too! Ruth’s garden is mentioned a few times throughout the novel and lavender is a big part of her garden, so I figured it worked perfectly again. (Not to mention I already had it on hand.)
This cocktail was another really tasty one. Again, I preferred this one with my special ingredient added. It tasted good without it, but there was a big vodka aftertaste that I didn’t love. And, with the lavender syrup the aftertaste wasn’t nearly as bad. I also thought the lavender flavour worked really well with the pomegranate! So, take it upon yourself to try this drink with or without the special ingredient, but I recommend with.
The Prophets Synopsis
(from book cover)
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 sanctuary, 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.
Review
“You do not yet know us. You do not yet understand.”
The Prophets is a really interesting novel. It’s a touching fictionalization of the antebellum Old South, told through the eyes of both the slaves and slaveholders. At times it hardly felt like fiction as the characters were believable and their experiences so realistic. It is also a truly unique novel, as it goes beyond being a story of the atrocities of slavery and instead becomes a love story. Furthermore, the novel revolves around the love of two men and other LGBTQ+ relationships. This approach of reimagining the Old South through a queer lens is so special, touching, and necessary. These are the stories that don’t make the history pages, but are so important in showing the interiority of enslaved people. And, despite this story being fictional, I think it brings to light an important narrative that is so often ignored.
This novel is also hard to write about. Unfortunately, I found that while I loved some aspects of it, it disappointed me just as much as it had me in awe. I was really hoping I would love this novel since my last few reads have been subpar, but it just couldn’t deliver. While I loved the writing of the novel, the plot wasn’t endearing to me and I felt confused half the time.
The Prophets is one of the most beautifully written novels I’ve read for this blog. Jones, Jr. has an absolute mastery over the written word; however, at times I thought the book was almost too well written. By that, I mean that it felt like smart person writing and, therefore, smart people reading (a la T.S. Eliot). Unfortunately for me, that meant a lot of re-reading. I found I would read a passage and have to go back over it one or more times just to begin to understand what was going on and what it meant. Sometimes having to re-read can be chalked up to bad writing, but that is definitely not the case in this book. The novel is just so deep and there are so many layers to practically everything that it’s necessary.
Side note: despite the amazing writing I kept thinking parts of the novel would work better in audiobook format. Specifically, the chapters where it feels as though someone is speaking to the reader. The first chapter does this and ends with a joke and laughter, which didn’t really work on the page for me. But, though I didn’t check, I think this type of thing would work interestingly and add something extra to the novel in audiobook form.
Beyond the complex writing, a lot of the novel is rooted in religion and spirituality, which is also largely lost on me. As someone who isn’t religious at all, many of the biblical references and allusions didn’t mean much to me. In this lack of awareness on my part, I feel a lot of the meaning and significance of the novel didn’t affect me as it should. So, unfortunately, I couldn’t understand or appreciate the novel as fully as the author intended. So, keep this in mind for this review. If you have a better understanding of the Bible then I think you’ll get a lot more out of this novel than I did.
One thing I did understand and appreciate in The Prophets was the characters. There were a lot of characters, almost too many, but they all stood out. And, while they were well written, they could’ve been fleshed out a bit more. Since there were so many, it was, sadly, hard to connect with them or find much depth to them. The novel itself was so deep, but the characters felt like something you saw in passing—a general shape, some features, but no real substance. I also was irked by how Jones, Jr. wrote one of the female characters. For the most part, I wasn’t actually bothered by my typical annoyance of a man writing a woman. But, no woman ever would sometimes feel excited to be raped. And, I know disliking this character was the intention, but still.
Furthermore, all of the sex was a bit much for me. So much of the novel is explicitly about rape and sex, and it was hard to read. I get that the intention of the novel was to showcase this specific trauma, but it just felt slightly overdone. While I do think a lot of it was necessary for the story, and can completely appreciate and understand that, some of it actually took me out of the story and felt more forced than realistic or substantial.
The final point I’ll make about The Prophets (as I feel I’ve gone on a bit long), is that it didn’t feel like the book had a plot. There was a story (Samuel and Isaiah’s love story), but there didn’t seem to be any driving force in the novel. We just get a lot of glimpses into their life, the lives of those around them, and the ancestors who came before them. But why are we seeing all these stories? What is my motivation to keep reading? I don’t know. The love story itself is beautiful and tragic and unique, but not enough to keep me interested. This lack of coherent or endearing plot, and a confusing, unexplained timeline, made the story hard to follow and boring.
Overall, I liked The Prophets. If for nothing else, it felt like an honour to be able to read something so beautifully written. It’s not one of my favourite books of the year so far, but it’s a truly special read. This depiction of the Old South through a queer lens is one of a kind and touching. Jones, Jr. somehow describes both the devastating atrocities of slavery and the remarkable love, dreams, spirituality, and hopes of the enslaved people, and wraps it all together into a cohesive, beautiful story. The Prophets is a novel that I think would be perfect for studying and unpacking in depth… if you’re into that sort of thing. And, even if you aren’t, I recommend reading this one or at least trying my themed cocktail!
My Rating:
Thanks for reading! And, if you read the book or try the cocktail let me know in a comment, on Instagram, or in person (if you know me). Also, if you haven’t yet read my previous reviews, I recommend reading My Dark and Stormy Vanessa and The Vanishing Half and Half if you liked this one!
Teghann
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