In The Prophets, Robert Jones Jr. tells a story of love between two enslaved young men on a nineteenth-century plantation in the American South; a love so profound and impossible to hide that the other enslaved people come to refer to them as one entity. Lust, pettiness, and misguided interpretation of the white man’s religion conspire to kill a love that had no name to speak. Narrated by the voices of several enslaved people and spectral African ancestors, The Prophets brings to mind Alex Haley, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison, while establishing Jones as a distinct new literary voice.
The Prophets, by Robert Jones Jr. Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons. The editor is Sally Kim and the agent is PJ Mark. The Prophets is a finalist for the Publishing Triangle’s Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction; the winner will be announced on May 11.