A brilliant exploration of "the peculiar institution" of slavery. In this historical fantasy, Dana, a 20th C black woman, is ripped from her time and deposited on a 1820's Maryland plantation to save a young white boy named Rufus from drowning. When threatened by the boy's father, she snaps back to her own time, wet and muddy from the river, to the astonishment of her husband who saw her disappear before his eyes only seconds before. This is the first in a series of time displacements that cover only a few months of Dana's time, but years in the life of the boy and the slaves on his plantation. 
 Over the months and years Dana spends in Maryland, she and Rufus establish an uneasy relationship based on the threat of mutual destruction. She tries to moderate his anger and guide him toward a more humane attitude while working and living among the plantation's slaves. She holds a special place because of her education, "power" to appear when Rufus needs her, and "heal" with modern cleanliness and aspirin. This arouses the fear and consternation of the whites and envy and suspicions of some of the slaves. Butler's genius lies in her exploration of power and relationships between unequal partners: master and slave, father and son, husband and wife. 
 The writing is powerful. I put the book down for two days in the middle because I didn't want to read anymore about the brutality of slavery, but came back because I needed to find out how it ended. Octavia Butler is one of my favorite authors, but I've read primarily her science fiction. This historical fantasy is one of her early books and shows all the promise of her later work. Highly recommended.