Kindred
Octavia Butler · 1947–2006 · United States
Why it matters
A modern Black woman is pulled repeatedly back to an antebellum Maryland plantation to keep her white ancestor alive. Butler makes slavery bodily and immediate: time travel as the most unbearable kind of proximity.
At a glance
speculative fictionhistorical fiction
Difficulty 4/10fast pace287 pagesClear, propulsive prose keeps a structurally simple time-travel device easy to follow.
Deep dive
The device that keeps Butler's novel from ever letting a reader enjoy the comfortable distance of costume drama.
Where to go next
Octavia Butler · 1993Parable of the SowerLvl 4Fast paced
Philip K. Dick · 1962The Man in the High CastleLvl 6Medium pace
Margaret Atwood · 1985The Handmaid's TaleLvl 5Medium pace
Ursula K. Le Guin · 1969The Left Hand of DarknessLvl 6Medium pace
Yevgeny Zamyatin · 1924WeLvl 5Fast paced
Mary Shelley · 1818FrankensteinLvl 4Medium pace