Kindred by Octavia E. Butler - #Bookreview

I lost an arm on my last trip home. My left arm.

And I lost about a year of my life and much of the comfort and security I had not valued until it was gone. When the police released Kevin, he came to the hospital and stayed with me so that I would know I hadn't lost him too.

But before he could come to me, I had to convince the police that he did not belong in jail. That took time. The police were shadows who appreared intermittently at my bedside to ask me questions I had to struggle to understand.

***

In 1976, Dana dreams of being a writer. In 1815, she is assumed a slave.

When Dana first meets Rufus on a Maryland plantation, he's drowning. She saves his life - and it will happen again and again.

Neither of them understands his power to summon her whenever his life is threatened, nor the significance of the ties that bind them.

And each time Dana saves him, the more aware she is that her own life might be over before it's even begun.

This is the extraordinary story of two people bound by blood, separated by so much more than time.

***

This book was a little out of my reading comfort zone. However, I am so glad that I read it as it was fantastic and I enjoyed every page.

It was chosen for my book group read this month and I cannot wait to hear what my fellow book group members thought of it.

It is said to be the first science fiction novel written by a woman of colour. What pulled me so completely into this is the time travel element as it meant that many sections read like historical fiction, of which I am a devoted fan.

The main character, Dana, is a fully fleshed character and it was interesting to read about her in both time periods. For me, the most interesting parts of the novel were when she is called back in time to the plantation owned by her white ancestors. As a black woman she must assume the role of a slave while she waits to be transported back to 1976.

Although time travel is the device used to enable the reader to understand the history surrounding  slavery through twentieth century eyes, it is about so much more. The community formed by the slaves and the terrible lives that they had as possessions of a white owner were difficult to read at times. Punishments by white owners were handed out with little thought, and for those who survived, it was interesting to observe the way in which they learned to adapt to life as slaves.

This novel is about gender, race and survival. It is about how an educated modern black American woman witnessed and lived in one of the most atrocious periods in history. It is one of the best books I have read this year.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to those interested in historical fiction, science fiction and black history. I am definitely going to check out some of Ms. Butler's other books and venture a little further into the science fiction genre.

Purchase at Bookshop.org*

About the Author:

Octavia E. Butler was a renowned African American author who received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. Born in Pasadena in 1947, she was raised by her mother and her grandmother.  She was the author of several award-winning novels including Parable of the Sower (1993), which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and Parable of the Talents (1995) winner of the Nebula Award for the best science fiction novel published that year. She was acclaimed for her lean prose, strong protagonists, and social observations in stories that range from the distant past to the far future.

She passed away on February 24, 2006. At the time of her death, interest in her books was beginning to rise, and in recent years, sales of her books have increased enormously as the issues she addressed in her Afro-Futuristic, feminist novels and short fiction have only become more relevant.

(Author photo and bio. information courtesy of the authors website https://www.octaviabutler.com/ )

*Disclosure: I only recommend books I would buy myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains an affiliate link from which I may earn a small commission.