The Folio Society brings Octavia E. Butler’s stunning 1976 novel, ‘Kindred’ to brand new life with an addition boasting a new introduction from author Tananarive Due and illustrations from James E. Ransome.
‘Kindred’, Butler’s fourth novel is that rare beast of science-fiction, one where that genre labelling almost doesn’t feel right. It is the kind of novel that transcends an idea of genre throughout the course of its narrative which brings history to life in terrifying and often startling ways.
The novel is a first-person account of the experience of Dana Franklin, a young African-American writer living in Los Angeles with her husband, Kevin, in 1976. Dana’s life soon takes a turn for the unbelievable when she finds herself being forced back in time to a pre-Civil War Maryland plantation. Here, she meets her ancestors and is forced to find a way to survive as a part of the day to day on the plantation when it becomes clear that the length of time she spends in the past are wildly difficult to predict.
There are a number of fascinating themes driving the story of ‘Kindred’ and Dana’s displacement from time. The one that comes to the fore the most is the struggle of a modern woman adapting to a time where she doesn’t belong, attempting to understand the dynamics of a time that is brutal and savage towards people that look like her. Much of the struggle of the narrative comes from not only Dana’s attempts to find a way to survive but the sense that Butler is using her fantasy-driven device to reconcile with her own ancestry, to try and better understand the realities that her family would have faced in a time of slavery.
As a result, ‘Kindred’ can often be a gruelling read, as Butler does not skimp on the graphic details and violence that characterised the time. The depiction of the plantation is startlingly vivid, from both the way Butler draws out a very distinct sense of community amongst the slaves, and in the descriptions of the violence and punishments that befall both members of the community and Dana herself. The sense of hopelessness and the want to escape is something we as the reader share with Dana, as she endures her time in the past, never to be sure of when she’ll return or how long she’ll be able to stay in the present.
While the violence described across the course of ‘Kindred’ can often prove shocking, the way the novel addresses ideas of trauma, racial dilemmas and the violent history upon which America is built on often feels effortless and truly very graceful. It is an utterly compelling read with a terrific character in Dana, who attempts to find even the best in people, even the white slave owners who she is tied to and seemingly powerless to untether herself from. Even in the bleakest of moments, there is a sense of hope that drives throughout, stemming both from our knowledge of a liberating future and from our desire to see Dana both navigate in the past and find a way to make it home.
This Folio Society edition is given even more texture thanks to the stunning artwork delivered by Ransome. With a tactile texture to his watercolour paintings, it brings some of the most harrowing images within the novel to life, adding a greater sense of reality and weight to the history that Butler is placing her protagonist in. The illustrations, along with Due’s passionate introduction, just gone to show the effect and legacy of Butler’s text on fellow artists and those who continue to discover her work.
The blend of science fiction elements and stark historical account make ‘Kindred’ a truly unique novel, one that feels deeply personal, driven by an imagination that is devoted to producing a grounded story with fantastical elements that forces a direct confrontation with an ancestry that must be difficult to truly understand and reconcile with while looking at with modern eyes. A harrowing, but captivating read, repackaged with beauty and care.
