- First Lines Friday October 23 2020 -

Hey Bookworms

First Lines Fridays is my weekly feature for all you bookworms out there in need a little inspiration.

I have been posting these over on Instagram for a while but decided to further my reach.

Each Friday I will attempt to hook you in by posting the first handful of lines of a book that I recommend for you all to read, this way I can allow the story to grab you with the magic of its opening lines rather then an eye grabbing cover or a catchy blurb adorning the back.

Then I will reveal the book and include purchase links at the end.

The first lines of this week's chosen book are. . .

__________

𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴

𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘋𝘖 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘠𝘌𝘛 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘴.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥.

𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘢 𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘸.

𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 , 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦?

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘖𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘩, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨.

_____________

And the book is . . . .

The Prophets by Robert Jones Jnr

Happy F R I D A Y bookfam,

How amazing is this proof copy of what is set to be a truly epic novel!

I had the extreme pleasure of hearing the author speak about his Debut book and everything that went into it at Quercus Publicity's Word Of Mouth Bestsellers event the other night.

Did you know this story took Robert 13 years to write?

I am so excited to read this one and it has been bumped up to the top of my rolling TBR.

Publication date is January 5th 2021 (preorder below)

Click HERE to watch a video telling you a little bit about the author and his book.

Heres the synopsis ↓ ↓ ↓

The Prophets a novel

The Halifax plantation is known as Empty by the slaves who work it under the pitiless gaze of its overseers and its owner, Massa Paul. Two young enslaved men, Samuel and Isaiah dwell among the animals they keep in the barn, helping out in the fields when their day is done. But the barn is their haven, a space of radiance and love - away from the blistering sun and the cruelty of the toubabs - where they can be alone together.

But, Amos - a fellow slave - has begun to direct suspicion towards the two men and their refusal to bend. Their flickering glances, unspoken words and wilful intention, revealing a truth that threatens to rock the stability of the plantation. And preaching the words of Massa Paul's gospel, he betrays them.

In this blinding debut, Robert Jones Jr. blends the lyricism of Toni Morrison with the vivid prose of Zora Neale Hurston to characterise the forceful, enduring bond of love, and what happens when brutality threatens the purest form of serenity.