Kindred

Octavia E. Butler

- 4.1 • 156 Ratings

- $4.99

- $4.99

The first science fiction written by a Black woman, Kindred has become a cornerstone of Black American literature. This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she's been given: to protect this young slaveholder until he can father her own great-grandmother. Author Octavia E. Butler skillfully juxtaposes the serious issues of slavery, human rights, and racial prejudice with an exciting science fiction, romance, and historical adventure. Kim Staunton's narrative talent magically transforms the listener's earphones into an audio time machine.

APPLE BOOKS REVIEW

Octavia E. Butler’s thrilling science fiction tale will make you contemplate the legacy of American slavery in a powerful new way. Dana is a young Black woman living in Altadena, California, in 1976—until suddenly, she isn’t. Some powerful force transports Dana from her comfortable suburban married life to a plantation in 1815 Maryland, just in time to save a young white boy’s life. She’s soon shot back into the present, but Dana’s encounters with the brutal realities of the antebellum South continue. Butler does a brilliant job gripping the reader as her heroine’s firsthand experiences with slavery open her eyes to all the ways in which the institution’s horrors reverberate in the present. And narrator Kim Staunton takes us inside Dana’s head, making the story feel even more unsettling and emotional. Kindred blends science fiction and historical fiction into something earthshaking and new.

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