Current Press Release

TOMS RIVER – Join best-selling author Robert Jones, Jr., for an in-depth look at his award-winning debut novel The Prophets in the Ocean County Library’s Virtual Author Talk series, 4 PM Tuesday, August 15.

Set in the plantation-era deep South, The Prophets is a story of love, intimacy, and refuge from life in slavery for Samuel and Isaiah. Their relationship thrives until they are betrayed by a self-serving slave currying favor with the plantation owner. Their mutual devotion becomes a source of seething, mounting turmoil, leading to a climactic reckoning.

Jones, whose “Son of Baldwin” social justice blog attracted hundreds of thousands of followers over 14 years, captured the 2022 Publishing Triangle Edmund White Award for The Prophets. The novel, available through the Ocean County Library, also was a finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for fiction.

Jones’s literary work has been carried in The New York Times, Essence, Variety and Paris Review, and is included in two acclaimed anthologies, The 1619 Project and Four Hundred Souls. Fans can view his newest writings in his newsletter, Witness.

Please register at https://libraryc.org/theoceancountylibrary to attend this free program, to view the upcoming schedule, and to view previous talks. Registrants will receive links to the program by email and may submit questions for the author when signing up.

Keep up with Library programs and events at www.theoceancountylibrary.org, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Spotify, and Pinterest.

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