4.5 stars. I'd seen an advertisement that this book was being made into a mini-series on HBO. I figured I'd give the book a read before any buzz about the show started up (I'll likely watch it at some point). I've read and enjoyed other books by this author. This was no exception. Intriguing story.

It starts right off, in the prologue - first line "I lost an arm on my last trip home" ... I wasn't quite sure what was going on (I'll often jump right into a book without reading the blurb or reviews, often I don't really know what it's about). Then it goes back a bit in time, then again LITERALLY, as our MC gets sucked back to the 1800s. Right there, it's a bit of an "Outlander" feel, but here, our MC is in the past for just a bit, then pops back to the present, where she's only been gone a few seconds (what felt like several minutes to her). It happens again, and again.

It was really interesting to be placed right into the history, from the eyes of a modern (even though this "present" day is set in 1976, it felt quite contemporary ... although today the internet/google would have been helpful in the search for information) black woman. She knows the history, and while there are still struggles with racism, this "past" place is not what she is used to.

I went with the audio edition. The narration was good, but the voices of the white characters felt a little off to me ... does it sound awful if I say they sounded black? I know they were Southern, and not super sophisticated, and maybe it was just the same narrator voicing all the characters.

The MC seemed to adapt to the situation pretty quick (it was a pretty crazy thing happening!). She started calling Rufus "Rufe" so quick, that felt unnatural to me, coming up with a nickname that fast.