num_pages: 400
description: Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593085684A 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 Samuels and Samuel was Isaiahs. 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 mana fellow slaveseeks to gain favor by preaching the masters gospel on the plantation the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuels love which was once so simple is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantations harmony.With a lyricism reminiscent of Toni Morrison Robert Jones Jr. fiercely summons the voices of slaver and the enslaved alike to tell the story of these two men; from Amos the preacher to the calculating slave-master himself 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 centuriesof ancestors and future generations to comeculminate 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.
language: English
title: The Prophets
publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons