The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr

This is the second book this month that I have read that reimagines a past in the antebellum American South, and both of them have an underlying gay theme. In this one, there is a tie to pre-colonial Africa, and in particular to a religion where Black queer lives are revered rather than reviled. This was long listed for the National Book award, the other longlisted for the Booker Prize, so the themes here are getting a broader audience. At the center of this book is a love story between two enslaved men, Samuel and Isaiah, who dare flout their owners’ intended use of them for breeding by choosing to love each other instead. Their relationship sets off a chain of events on the aptly named Empty plantation in Mississippi, including the 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 honored. In a gesture that acknowledges the historically fraught relationship between Black LGBTQ communities and the Christian church, the book’s chapter titles alternate between the characters’ names and the names of books of the Bible. It is a well written first book for the author.