Wow! I listened to Prophet Song over two days and was completely gripped and now I am reeling with the impact of the story.
The book is set in Ireland in an alternate present where some kind of secret police are set up to work against trade unionists fighting for workers rights. We are told the story from the point of view of Eilish, a scientist, wife and mother of four children ranging in ages from sixteen down to a babe in arms. Eilish’s husband is a teacher and trade union leader and he is taken by the secret police early in the book with no contact from him or information about his whereabouts being made available.
Eilish is shunned by many people in her community and shopkeepers refuse to serve her, she even loses her job. Tensions ramp up as more people are disappeared, and young people are drafted into the security forces. Eilish’s sister in Canada urges her to leave the country, but she is unable to get passports for her infant son or a renewal of passport for her eldest. Also she is caring for her father who is suffering from dementia and she wants to believe that her husband will be released and she wants to be there for him.
I don’t want to give away all the plot, but things go from bad to worse and from initially holding onto the belief that ‘we live in a civilised county and have rights’ to realising that the government has all the power and can get away with all kinds of terrible things Eilish and her family’s experience becomes horrifying.
Apparently the writer took most or all of the things that happened from real people’s experiences in Syria and other war torn nations but by putting it in Ireland, a prosperous western nation it feels closer to home and more real to us as readers. I certainly felt very invested in all the characters and one scene in particular really left me emotionally wrenched (I want to believe that something like that couldn’t really happen, but I fear that it could and maybe somewhere has. If you have read the book then you probably know the scene I’m talking about.).
The narrator was great too!
Sarah Wray Writer 