February book selection: Kindred by Octavia Butler

When American author Octavia Butler died in 2006, she was only 58. Even at her premature death, she was renowned as a science fiction and speculative fiction author, winning both Hugo and Nebula awards and the MacArthur fellowship (aka the MacArthur Genius Grant).

Published in 1979, "Kindred" remains her most well-known and best-selling work. A story based on time travel and modeled on slave narratives, "Kindred" explores the dynamics and dilemmas of American antebellum slavery from the sensibility of a late 20th-century Black woman who is aware of its legacy in contemporary American society.

Goodreads summary

Dana, a modern Black woman, is celebrating her 26th 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.