"Kindred" by Octavia E. Butler

All I knew about this book going in was that it was the first science fiction novel written by a female African-American author. The main protagonist is a 26-year old African-American woman Dana living in California in 1976. She is a recently married young writer, who one night unexpectedly gets transported into antebellum Maryland. In a blink of an eye she finds herself on a plantation in 1815 and saves a young white boy named Rufus from drowning. Even though to her it seems like she'd been gone for hours, only seconds pass between her disappearance and reappearance back home. Over the next several days she experiences time travel several more times. She appears during various stages of Rufus' life and spends long periods of time (up to several months) on the plantation. Each time Dana appears to Rufus, he is faced with some mortal danger and she ends up saving his life.

Rufus is the son of a slaveholder, and Dana comes face to face with the horrors of slavery. He is also Dana's ancestor and no matter how badly he treats her and the slaves on the plantation, she cannot kill him until her great-grandmother Hagar is born. Rufus to me is the quintessential villain: he is cruel, deceptive, manipulative and lacks basic empathy or compassion. One could say he is the product of his time, and this is precisely the excuse he uses. He is not doing anything that is illegal at the time in the South, but that does not make it right. His inability to see the moral depravity of his ways is stunning. I cried a lot reading this novel.

The book is not just a vivid portrayal of slavery, it is also an allegory. Rufus is Dana's ancestor. What happened in antebellum Maryland is part of her family history. In addition, even though living in the late 20th century, she is seemingly safe from the horrors of 1815, yet at any moment the ugly face of racism can suddenly reappear, and she is yanked back to facing human depravity and prejudice. This is a must read. 5 out 5 stars.