Fiction Review: Kindred

For years I had heard nothing but great reviews about Octavia Butler's Kindred and wanted to read it. So when I saw that my local independent bookstore had chosen it for their monthly Black Book of the Month review panel, I signed up. Fabulous. Not good. This touching story of a contemporary black woman who travels through time on a southern plantation in 1815 amazed me. It is a fascinating, compelling and very powerful story that has generated a lot of discussion.

Dana is a black woman who lived in California with her white husband Kevin in 1976. Both are writers and Dana works part-time to get around. On her 26th birthday, Dana suddenly disappears from their living room as she and Kevin unload the boxes of their latest move. It is located near a river in the countryside surrounded by trees. See a child drown in a river and act on instinct, jump into the water and swim to save him. You drag it ashore, but it doesn't breathe, so you start to breathe mouth-to-mouth. She was shocked when her mom arrived on the scene and started punching Dana in the back. The boy, Rufus, started breathing again, but his father appeared and pointed the gun at Dana. She disappears from the scene and reappears in her living room wet, dirty and out of breath. She tells Kevin what happened, and while it's hard to believe, it's impossible to ignore the physical evidence Dana carries: river water, dirt, and bruises on her back. It soon happened again and Dana learned that her maiden voyage was in 1815 and that Rufus lived on a farm in Maryland. She seems to have the ability to somehow relate to him when his life is in danger, which often happens as he gets older. Whenever Dana is taken back in time, she stays around longer; He suddenly returns to his time when his life is in danger. While on the plantation, Dana has to live and work with slaves, often gets into trouble, remembers to speak up, and behaves submissively towards Rufus' often abusive parents. Dana tells her true story to Rufus, who sees her appear and disappear, and even though these two become a little intimate, their relationship is still strained, as Rufus discovers that blacks are less human, almost animal. What makes things even more difficult is that Dana's family history is in jeopardy due to what's going on on this farm.

did i say wow ?? Regular readers of my blog know that I love time travel novels, especially those that include historical stories like Connie Willis' TheDoomsday Book and Eclipse and Everything is Obvious . But this historical time travel novel was incredibly powerful. We had a lot to discuss in the reading group. We all agreed that Dana, who had experienced slavery on a southern plantation, was stronger because she was a modern woman, and the contrast with her modern life only accentuated the horrors of slavery. The comings and goings between periods influenced Dana and Kevin, who one day drifted a lot with her. With the views of black and white slaves of the time, as well as the growing conflict between the admiration and respect of Rufus and Dana and the views he grew up on, the novel covers many aspects of this period in depth. Dana faces impossible choices and makes very difficult decisions as she tries to balance the needs of time - and the people she's starting to care for - with her modern life and family. It's a compelling and powerful portrait of a terrifying time and place in our story, told in a truly unique way. I want to go back and reread the whole novel. I'm sure someday.

note that. When you get back to the end of the novel, be sure to go back and read the introduction again!

264 pages, Bacon Press

Registered books

This book is suitable for the following 2022 reading assignments :

TBR fitting test

Idea of ​​the Month - Girl Power (No female character is more ferocious than Dana!)

Alphabet soup challenge - K for the family

Challenge to diversity

Literary Escape Call - North Carolina

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Listen to audiobook excerpts from the introduction and beginning of the novel here and / or download it from Audible. This looks good!

 

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