Title: Kindred

Author: Octavia Butler

Publisher: 1979

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 287

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library; Monthly Theme - February

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

Such a powerful story! I’ve been meaning to read this one for years, but it kept getting shoved down my TBR pile. Finally picked it up and sped through it. It’s a fast paced plot with great characters. But more importantly, the book dives into very hard situations and questions what’s right and wrong in any given situation. I really found Dana’s inner turmoil over her place both in the 1800s and in 1976 challenging. The passages detailing violence were very difficult to read but important to confront past (and sometimes current) injustices. Even though the book was written 40 years, the topics touched upon feel very relevant to today.

Next up on the TBR pile: