Since the dawn of civilization, the topic of love has provided inspiration for some of humanity’s greatest works. But for all that’s been written and said, what exactly constitutes ‘love’ remains difficult to define, further complicated by the fact that one’s perspective will change and evolve as they move through life. Billed as a ‘romantic adventure of self-discovery,’ T. Satterfield’s PROPHECY OF LOVE is a captivating, genre-blending story chronicling one man’s exploration of the many shades of love.
Hardworking, affable, and cautious to a fault, Gabe Mendes hardly fits the bill of someone who works at The Law Offices of Dumas, McPhail & Cox, a job he all but loathes. Still, for all of his ‘good guy’ qualities, Gabe has spent the majority of his life clinging to a fairly myopic view of what constitutes love–his most enduring relationship is with his cat named Cat. Readers soon learn that Gabe’s many hang ups, crippling as they may be, are very much rooted in his upbringing. Raised in a single-parent household, Gabe has never known his father, a fact that weighs on him far more than he’s ever realized. But all of that changes one New Year’s Eve, when, following hours of mindless internet surfing, Gabe stumbles upon a link that leads him to a woman named Pythia. During the mind-bending conversation with the self-proclaimed high-priestess, Gabe agrees to take on a quest. Should he succeed, Pythia promises to share with him the secret to true love. What follows is a fantastical trek through the annals of time and space, a journey that brings Gabe face to face with a diverse cast of historical characters, a list that includes the likes of Plato, Gandhi, and even John Coltrane. Along the way, Gabe begins to unravel the ‘real’ mystery at the heart of his story, all the while learning a thing or two about love along the way.
Despite its pedestrian beginnings, PROPHECY OF LOVE quickly subverts expectations. Author T. Satterfield dips her toe in a number of genres, presenting a story that refuses to adhere to convention. Written from Gabe’s perspective, the reader is treated to a series of one-on-one’s with some of history’s most intriguing figures. Be it Jane Austin or John Lennon, Satterfield does an admirable job of channeling each character’s voice, although some of the contemporary ‘names’ fall a bit outside their public personas. To that point, the quasi-time-travel concept driving the meat of this story is a fresh, clever narrative device. Unfortunately, the story sags under the sheer weight of itself and could benefit from some editing. Pairing down the number of ‘visits’ Gabe makes along the way would easily remove a hundred pages from this book, making for a leaner, meaner narrative. Additionally, the flowery, adjective-laden prose often feels at odds with the first-person POV–Gabe’s outward dialogue and inner-monologue just don’t always feel like the same person.
Minor gripes notwithstanding, Satterfield’s approach to the narrative is both refreshing and entertaining throughout. And when measured against the magical realism genre, PROPHECY OF LOVE leans heavily on Gabe’s numerous interactions, allowing the ‘magical’ elements to serve the story, as opposed to the other way around.
Part mind-bending examination of love, part sight-seeing tour through time and space, T. Satterfield’s PROPHECY OF LOVE is an intriguing, genre-blending adventure that’s just a little polish away from being a true ‘page-turner.’
~James Weiskittel for IndieReader