Book Review: “Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler
Håfa adai! February is Black History Month in the United States. Throughout February 2025, I will post reviews for books across various genres that are written by African American authors and/or depict important experiences and stories within Black history. Each book review will be followed by a brief summary of Black history and Black History Month within the context of United States history. Learn more about Black History Month at the end of this book review. My second selection of February 2025 is Kindred by Octavia E. Butler.
The book review portion of this post consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and themes. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.
Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the Science Fiction bookshelf.
Spoiler-Free Summary of Kindred
Dana and her husband Kevin are writers adjusting to life as a recently married couple in 1976 Los Angeles, California. Dana, a Black woman raised by her aunt and uncle after the early death of her parents, is sorting through her uncle’s feelings of rejection spurred by her marrying a White man. Kevin, a White man, is sorting through feelings of disappointment in his sister after his sister’s reaction to him marrying a Black woman. But Dana and Kevin love and respect each other, and that’s what matters.
In the days approaching her 26th birthday, Dana’s life is thrown into chaos when she is somehow transported to antebellum Maryland—a time and place in the United States before passage of the 13th Amendment abolished slavery—to save Rufus, the son of a slave owner. Sent back and forth through time whenever Rufus’ life is in danger, Dana is forced to survive in a time she doesn’t belong. But Dana is unsure of her own ability to stay alive as every trip back to the 1800s becomes more and more perilous.
IMPORTANT TRIGGER WARNING FOR KINDRED
Kindred heavily depicts scenes reflecting the reality of life for African slaves in the 19th Century United States, including sexual assault, physical assault (i.e. whipping), suicide, separation of families, selling of human beings as physical property, and more. These scenes and themes are essential to the plot. If these are themes that would cause you distress or discomfort in any way, then please make sure to take necessary steps to prepare and protect yourself before and after reading this book.
My Thoughts on Kindred: 5 stars!
I first experienced Kindred in early 2023 after binging the Hulu miniseries based on this book. I was absolutely enthralled by the story in the show, so I had to read the book. There are differences between what is presented in the miniseries and the novel, but both the original source material and the television adaptation present an incredible story. I knew I wanted to feature a review of Kindred when I started the Bookmarks & Armchairs blog and chose to wait until Black History Month to feature this book since I tend to regularly feature more recently published works. I decided to re-visit the book to make sure my recollections of the story remained accurate and appreciated the story just as much the second time around.
In Kindred, Octavia E. Butler addresses the question of what would happen if a Black person in the 20th Century United States was transported back in time only 160 years in their own country. The answer is the terrifying realization that having knowledge of a certain time period does not guarantee your safety in that time period. For example, Dana knows that freed slaves in the 1800s United States had to carry paperwork on their person at all times as evidence that they were in fact freed and did not run away. But the paper and ink Dana has access to in 1976 is not the same as what is available in the 1800s and, on top of that, she does not know what this paperwork would say. So, even though she knows of something that freed slaves should have, she does not know what that documentation would even look like and is still in peril. This documentation is one of the reasons why enslaved Africans were not taught to read or write during years of slavery, as White slave owners feared that enslaved people would forge their own documentation of freedom.
The levels of stress and anxiety throughout Dana’s time trips to 1800s Maryland are amplified by the fact that Kindred is told from Dana’s first-person perspective, which is the most effective point of view to convey horror. Although it is not categorized within the genre or subgenres of horror, Kindred very much reads and feels like a work of horror. Dana’s interactions with Rufus grow more intense as he grows from a boy to a man, and her survival becomes less and less of a sure thing with each visit to the past.
The relationship between Dana and Rufus is complex. Dana is a woman from 1976 California while Rufus is a boy (and later man) of early-mid 1800s Maryland. Rufus is the son of a slave owner, which means he is likely destined to become a slave owner himself at some point, yet he recognizes that Dana’s visits are what keeps him alive in spite of certain experiences. There is a sort of acknowledgement of their interdependence as time moves on for Rufus but, ultimately, it seems as if there is nothing Dana can do to prevent Rufus from becoming a “man of his time,” one who abides by and reinforces the societal norms of the antebellum United States.
One of my personal takeaways from reading Kindred is that two things can be true at once: you can empathize with the younger version of a person while admonishing the older version of that same person. Every instance of Dana’s time travel is centered around a life-threatening event for Rufus Weylin, the son of a plantation owner and slave owner. Over the course of multiple travels to 1800s Maryland—which occur over the span of a few months in her original 1976 California timeline—Dana sees Rufus grow from a little boy to a man. During her encounters with Rufus the boy, Dana is patient and forgiving and treats his uses of certain words and ways of thinking as a teaching moment to (hopefully) stir him in a morally better direction. But, in her encounters with Rufus the man, Dana is not as patient and calls him out on a lot of his behavior.
My overall rating for Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred is 5 out of 5 stars! In my opinion, it is impossible to accurately depict life in the 19th Century United States without crossing into the genre of horror. And this book crosses that line. For me, Kindred is equal parts science fiction, historical fiction, and outright horror. Octavia E. Butler balances empathy, accountability, and self preservation in this story as Dana goes from trying to make a difference to simply trying to stay alive. I recommend Kindred to all fans of sci-fi and historical fiction!
Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of Kindred by Octavia E. Butler.
Other Books Reviewed for Black History Month 2025:
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
A Brief Summary of Black History & Black History Month in the United States
Black History Month is the first heritage month of the year celebrated in the United States. But how did this important heritage month come to be? How a community enters a nation’s historical narrative matters. The context of that introduction often sets the tone for how members of that community will be defined and treated by that nation’s leading demographic, legislation, popular media, public education, and more. For that reason, it is important to give a quick summary of the legislative history of how Africans and African Americans entered the national narrative of the United States, giving context to the significance of Black History Month.
A Quick Glance at the Legislative History of the United States of America
In 1776, thirteen British colonies in North America legally and politically separated from Great Britain to form the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments of the Constitution)—documents considered to be the foundation of the nation—rely on notions of freedom and equality as staunch opposition to the monarchy the colonies left behind. Yet the entire economy and structure of the United States in 1776 contradicted these notions, relying on the genocide and enslavement of multiple populations through practices that had been created and aggressively maintained for centuries. At the moment of its birth in 1776, the newly-formed United States of America had a lot of work to do before its reality resembled its ideologies.
In 1808, the 366 year-long Trans-Atlantic slave trade—costing the lives of over 15 million African men, women, and children—was legally ended in the United States, but illegal slave trade continued into the 1860s throughout both Union and Confederate states. On 1 January 1863, in the third year of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation stating “that all persons held as slaves… shall be free.” In 1865, the passage of the 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States. Citizenship would be granted to formerly enslaved people later with the 1866 adoption (and 1868 ratification) of the 14th Amendment*, which states that those born or naturalized in the United States would be granted citizenship. In 1870, the 15th Amendment technically “granted” voting rights to Black men (not Black women) in the aftermath of the Civil War; but legal protections against public discrimination and intimidation informed by bigotry (which prevented many Black men from exercising their right to vote, among many other things) would not be set in place until passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1954, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education ruled that it was unconstitutional to separate children in public schools on the basis of race. But the historical narrative of African Americans can be seen far beyond the legislative record of the country.
*Citizenship for Native Americans and those from United States territories/colonies was and is not granted through the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
Creations by African American Inventors Shape Much of American Life Today
From the economic foundations of the nation, to connecting the country coast to coast and beyond, and the comforts of everyday life, the impact of inventions by African Americans are felt in almost every facet of American life today. To name a few, these inventions include: the induction telegraph system that lets trains communicate while still in motion (Granville T. Woods); touch-tone phone, fiber optic cables, portable fax, and Caller ID (Shirley Jackson, not to be mistaken for the American horror author with the same name); the original IBM personal computer and color PC monitor (co-invented by Mark Dean); the Fairchild Channel F videogame console and the first interchangeable videogame cartridge (Jerry Lawson); Shockwave (the foundation for web animation) (Lisa Gelobter); the traffic signal (Garrett Morgan); automated elevator doors (Alexander Miles); synthetic drugs to treat glaucoma (Percy Lavon Julian); the home security system (Marie Van Brittan Brown); the sanitary belt (predecessor to sanitary pads and other menstrual products for women) and much more (Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner); refrigeration preserving things from food to medicine and donated blood (Frederick McKinley Jones); the first set of haircare products made especially for Black women’s hair (Madam C.J. Walker); synthetic rubber, peanut butter, and a lot more (George Washington Carver); the potato chip (George Crum); and the Super Soaker (Lonnie Johnson).
Black History Month Takes Shape
The foundations for Black History Month were laid in 1915 when historian Carter G. Woodson traveled to Chicago to attend the 50 anniversary celebration of the abolishment of slavery. Woodson noticed an absence of academic studies and acknowledgements of the contributions of African Americans in American history. In response to this, he organized the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915 and the Journal of Negro History in 1916, where historians and other scholars could focus research on African American experiences. In 1926, Woodson created Negro History Week in the second week of February, choosing that week for its overlap with the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and American abolitionist Frederick Douglas. Social change throughout the 1960s—spurred by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement—caused a shift across the United States. Younger generations of African Americans were changing how they related to their heritage within the nation’s popular historical narrative. Woodson’s organization was renamed the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). ASALH members expanded celebrations of Black heritage to a month long and—50 years after Woodson created a week-long homage—Black History Month was celebrated for the first time in 1976.
Closing Thoughts
Africans entered the historical narrative of the United States of America through the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the most horrific practice and period of modern history. Although legislation would eventually abolish slavery, grant African Americans citizenship, and the right to vote, decades more would pass before African Americans would be able to practice their rights as equal citizens. Fifty years after slavery was abolished in the United States, historian Carter G. Woodson noticed a need to acknowledge the history, heritage, and contributions of African American citizens in the United States and laid the foundations of what would later become Black History Month.
References (sorted alphabetically by source as “Post. Source: Link”):
Transatlantic slave trade. Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/topic/transatlantic-slave-trade
Slave Voyages, Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database. Emory University: https://www.slavevoyages.org/
Historical Context: Facts about the Slave Trade and Slavery. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/teacher-resources/historical-context-facts-about-slave-trade-and-slavery
13th Amendment. HISTORY: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/thirteenth-amendment
14th Amendment. HISTORY: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fourteenth-amendment
15th Amendment. HISTORY: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fifteenth-amendment
Black History Month. HISTORY: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month
Carter G. Woodson: The Man Behind Black History Month. HISTORY: https://www.history.com/news/the-man-behind-black-history-month
When Did African Americans Actually Get the Right to Vote? HISTORY: https://www.history.com/news/african-american-voting-right-15th-amendment
HISTORY OF | History of Black History Month. The HISTORY Channel Canada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnSHm3Y9qYc
African American Voting Rights. Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/elections/voters/african-americans/
Voyage of the Echo: The Trials of an Illegal Trans-Atlantic Slave Ship. Lowcounty Digital History Initiative: https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/voyage-of-the-echo-the-trials/historic-context--abolishing-t#:~:text=Britain%20finally%20abolished%20the%20trans,trade%20continued%20into%20the%201860s.
Americas Founding Documents. National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs
Black Americans and the Right to Vote. National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/vote
Brown v. Board of Education (1954). National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/brown-v-board-of-education
Civil Rights Act (1964). National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act#:~:text=This%20act%2C%20signed%20into%20law,civil%20rights%20legislation%20since%20Reconstruction.
The Emancipation Proclamation. National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation#:~:text=President%20Abraham%20Lincoln%20issued%20the,and%20henceforward%20shall%20be%20free.%22
Carter G. Woodson. NAACP: https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/carter-g-woodson
Black History Month. National Geographic Kids: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/black-history-month
The transatlantic slave trade. National Museums Liverpool: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/history-of-slavery/transatlantic-slave-trade
The Declaration of Independence, 1776. Office of the Historian: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/declaration
PBS LEARNING MEDIA | Black History Month | PBS KIDS. PBS KIDS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f00AatzvxC0
Transatlantic Slave Trade. Slavery and Remembrance: https://slaveryandremembrance.org/articles/article/?id=A0002.
The History of Black History Month. Stanford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNxzOliUCTc
Black History is American History | Okalani Dawkins | TEDxYouth@MVHS. TEDx Talks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VINtKSpbXw
Landmark Legislation: The Fourteenth Amendment. United States Senate: https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/14th-amendment.htm#:~:text=Passed%20by%20the%20Senate%20on,laws%2C%E2%80%9D%20extending%20the%20provisions%20of
Rating Cheat Sheet
4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.
Post Date: 17 February 2025
Published: June 1979
Publisher: Beacon Press
