Kindred

Synopsis

**MAJOR TV SERIES COMING SOON TO DISNEY+**

Octavia E. Butler's ground-breaking masterpiece, with an original foreword by Ayòbámi Adébáyò.

'A marvel of imagination, empathy and detail' NEW YORK TIMES

'The marker you should judge all other time-travelling narratives by' GUARDIAN

'One of the most significant literary artists of the twentieth century. One cannot exaggerate the impact she has had' JUNOT DIAZ

--

In 1976, Dana dreams of being a writer. In 1815, she is assumed a slave.

When Dana first meets Rufus on a Maryland plantation, he's drowning. She saves his life - and it will happen again and again.

Neither of them understands his power to summon her whenever his life is threatened, nor the significance of the ties that bind them.

And each time Dana saves him, the more aware she is that her own life might be over before it's even begun.

This is the extraordinary story of two people bound by blood, separated by so much more than time.

'No novel I've read this year has felt as relevant, as gut-wrenching or as essential' CAROLINE O'DONOGHUE

--

PRAISE FOR OCTAVIA E. BUTLER, THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

'Unnervingly prescient and wise' YAA GYASI

'Butler's evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human' NEW YORK TIMES

'Butler's prose, always pared back to the bone, delineates the painful paradoxes of metamorphosis with compelling precision' GUARDIAN

'Octavia Butler was a visionary' VIOLA DAVIS

'An icon of the Afrofuturism world, envisioning literary realms that placed black characters front and center' VANITY FAIR

'Butler writes with such a familiarity that the alien is welcome and intriguing. She really artfully exposes our human impulse to self-destruct' LUPITA NYONG'O

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Summary

Chapter 1: The River

* Dana, a young black woman from 1976 Los Angeles, is transported back to a Maryland plantation in 1815.
* She encounters a slave named Rufus, who saves her from a slave catcher but warns her not to stay long.
* Dana realizes the dangers of her situation and the vast cultural and racial divide between her time and the past.

Chapter 2: The Fire

* Dana witnesses the brutality of slavery firsthand, as slaves are whipped and punished.
* She tries to intervene in a burning barn, but Rufus prevents her, explaining that it is not her place.
* Dana struggles with the moral dilemmas of witnessing injustice and the limitations of her actions as a time traveler.

Chapter 3: The Fight

* Dana is taken to the plantation owner's house, where she meets Kevin, a white man who appears to be kind.
* Kevin's brother, Tom, is cruel and possessive, and Dana suspects he is planning to rape her.
* Dana and Kevin fight back against Tom, but Tom is injured and dies.

Chapter 4: The Trap

* Dana is accused of murder and imprisoned.
* She realizes that she cannot escape without help and confides in Rufus.
* Rufus and Kevin work together to free Dana, but they are pursued by Tom's men.

Chapter 5: The Chase

* Dana, Rufus, and Kevin flee through the woods, desperately trying to escape.
* They encounter slave catchers and hostile white settlers.
* Dana and Rufus reflect on the horrors of slavery and the fragility of freedom for African Americans.

Chapter 6: The Road

* Dana and Rufus reach safety and are returned to their own times.
* Dana is profoundly changed by her experience and grapples with the lingering effects of slavery in modern society.
* Rufus remains committed to fighting for justice and freedom in his own time.