DOI: 10.47743/jss-2025-71-4-19

Faculty of Law, West University of Timișoara.

Abstract: Considered a „prophetic masterpiece”, Paul Lynch's novel Prophet Song - winner of the 2023 Booker Prize - explores the collapse of a liberal democracy and one woman's fight to save her family in this context. Eilish Stack, an Irish researcher and mother of four, watches helplessly as the world she knows gradually disappears into the abyss of a tyranny established by an authoritarian government. This new regime takes power and drastically restricts citizens' rights, claiming expanded authority to maintain public order. After her husband disappears following an interrogation, and her eldest son joins the rebels, Eilish is torn between two existential choices: fight to get her husband and son back or flee abroad to save her three remaining children. At first, the idea of leaving the country for Canada to stay with her sister seems impossible as the authorities deny her application to renew their passports. Later, when the chaos of civil war sets in, Eilish refuses to accept an arranged escape. Finally, after the authoritarian regime kills her middle son, she accepts the plan, understanding that her only purpose is to lead her daughter and youngest son away from the darkness. A thrilling saga of resilience and love, Lynch's novel can be connected to multiple historical and political realities, outlining legal concepts such as public order, a state of emergency, human rights, and family protection. The book can serve as a reminder of history's repetitive nature and the fragility of freedom. It also offers an original lens through which to view war — which it calls „entertainment” — or history, which it defines as „a silent testament to the people who didn't know when to leave”. The end of the world is described as a „local event,” one that can come „to your country,” „your city,” „your doorstep,” while for others it remains „just a distant warning, a brief news report, an echo of facts that have entered folklore”. By analysing the legal concepts conveyed narratively by Paul Lynch, this paper aims to highlight the contribution that a literary text can make to their understanding.

Keywords: Rule of Law, police state, fundamental rights and freedoms, state of emergency, war.

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