This book was really good, but really hard to read. The thing about historical fiction is that it's fiction, but it's also history. Slavery wasn't all that long ago, and there are still major issues with the way anyone who isn't white is treated by a not insignificant part of the country, and the world as a whole. Octavia Butler has brought the antebellum south to life in this novel, and while I'm glad for how far we've come as a nation, I'm frustrated and heartbroken that that was where we'd been.
Dana keeps betting transported back to Maryland in the 1800s to save a young boy, who continues to grow between her visits. Her husband, Kevin comes with her on one of the trips to the past, and sees for himself what his black wife has been contending with. Kevin, being white, doesn't have as bad of a time as she has, but their separation has been one of the worst parts of the entire ordeal. Through sheer will and perseverance, fear, and determination, Dana tries her best to make Rufus into a better man. Only time will tell the impact of her journey.