Literature -- 3 stars
Dana, a modern day black woman, is busy in her new home unpacking books with her husband. Suddenly feeling dizzy, she wakes to find herself beside a river in the antebellum South, and a small white boy is drowning. Waking for a second time back in her home, she finds herself wet, muddy, and across the room from where she started. Her life becomes a series of time flips, each one longer, each one marked by the same white boy needing her help. Eventually she discovers that this boy is named Rufus, and they share a common ancestor. ----- I know I will be pilloried for this, but I found this book to be contrived. If this is supposed to be a thought provoking exploration of racism, I found it only minimally successful. When Dana's modern, white husband becomes involved, I did find myself doing some cringing and self-examining, but that seemed too small a part of the entire novel. The antebellum chapters seem like a checklist of slavery era characters who could have been lifted from any number of period novels. Slave seller, check; heartless owner, check; runaways and runaway chasers, check; the mean overseer, check; the kindly cook, check... None were really examined in depth which was sad. The only truly original character was Rufus who is as confused and conflicted as any human being I can imagine. The premise of the entire story is that Dana is being called back in time to make sure that Dana and Rufus' common ancestor is born. We're supposed to think that, if Dana doesn't protect Rufus, this ancestor will never appear. And then what? Modern day Dana will disappear in a puff of smoke? The time travel idea is clever, and both stories are well written; but to me, the end result was more clinical than emotional. Ms. Butler's point was made, but it could have been so much more.
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