I am a newer fan of Octavia Butler after reading her Earthseed series and she truly does not disappoint, *Kindred* was a novel unlike any I’ve read before. *Kindred* tells the story of Dana, a black woman living in 1976 California, who suddenly and inexplicably finds her self transported back to antebellum Maryland in the early 1800s. She is tasked with repeatedly saving the life of Rufus, a white boy destined to become her distance ancestor and the son of a plantation owner. In her own time, Dana is a writer and she is happily married to a white man named Kevin. Dana is smart, somewhat college educated and unafraid of speaking her mind, all qualities that are lethal for black women in the antebellum south. Stranded in this oppressive era, Dana must learn to navigate the confines of her expected racial role, however her modernity only exacerbates her challenges as she spends longer periods of time stuck on the Weylin Plantation.

Butler explores a myriad of important themes within *Kindred*, though I’ll only touch on a few of them (my copy had an excellent “Reader’s Discussion” essay in the back of the book which discusses these themes in more detail). One striking takeaway is the ease with which individuals can become accustomed to their circumstances merely to survive. As Dana observes, “I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery”. Throughout history, people have resorted to small acts of rebellion in hopes of effecting greater changes, as evidenced by Dana’s attempts to influence Rufus in any way possible and the effort she makes to assist fellow slaves on the plantation by teaching them to read. While the dialogue of this novel may seem simplistic or absurd to some readers, I think it provides great evidence of the absurdity of the power dynamic at play, and the lies white men spread in order to keep an entire race of people “in check”.

Kevin presents an expressly interesting perspective to the narrative, as well. While the focus remains on Dana’s struggles to assimilate, we catch glimpses of Kevin’s experiences and how they differ from Dana’s.

Spoiler

While spending 5 long years in the antebellum south alone awaiting Dana’s return, Kevin aids former slaves through the Underground Railroad. He returns to 1976 a changes man, but not necessarily for the better, despite all he’s done. Similar to Dana’s adaptation to plantation life, we witness Kevin’s seemingly seamless fit into the patriarchal, white-supremacist society - an environment tailored to his advantage. Even though he spends this time working to make a positive impact, Dana sees he has grown accustomed to being listened to and taken at his word as a result of the racial role he fills.

Even in 1976, where their marriage serves as an example of “equality”, we still see parallels between the power dynamics of Kevin and Dana, mirroring the relationship between Dana and Rufus. For instance, Rufus using to Dana complete correspondence on his behalf mirrors similar attempts by Kevin to do the same in the modern era. Dana even mentions she, unfortunately, sees Kevin and can’t help but recognize the way he and Rufus are similar as a product of their history, a history that was constructed to benefit people like Kevin. While Kevin tries to understand what Dana is going through, as a white man he will never truly know the extent of Dana’s lived experience.

Although *Kindred* incorporates elements of science fiction through its time-traveling premise, it is predominantly a work of historical fiction. Though I found the narrative compelling, I gave it 4 stars because I wanted more from the story as a whole, I felt we could have used some additional context for the larger story. Given the book’s length, further details would have rounded out the novel, in my opinion and maybe enriched the sci-fi aspect of the novel

I know there is much more to be said about this book, and I’m not entirely sure I am qualified to speak on some of the more complex themes, but all I can say is that Kindred is a deeply interesting and educational novel and I am so glad I read it. Also, I hope it is also the first and last time I read a story about anyone named Rufus. Highly recommend.