It was an awesome book.

Taking this to Sweden. Shhhh...it's a surprise!

Got this in my NSS parcel. Another wishlist book yeah! Thanks.

OMG, I loved this - I couldn't put it down. I must admit at first it reminded me of another book too much (I won't mention which one in case you are like me and read books with no idea what they are about), but after checking which was was written first, I couldn't believe this one was written in 1979. How have I missed this for so long? The descriptions were just amazing, it was a history lesson too. I felt for Kevin readjusting to his life with Dana. I could almost feel what Dana and the others went through but of course it is unimaginable. How do we know what we would have been like then? Rufus is such a complex character - product of the time? his upbringing? maybe he only had a conscience because of Dana? but I think he could never have been trusted.

This is my choice for my favourite book read in 2013. I'm sending it off on its journey.

ETA - sorry for the delay, I forgot to take it to the post office. It'll have to wait until next Saturday now.

This looks VERY interesting - thank you! Looking forward to reading this very much - should get round to it in a week or so. :)

I really enjoyed this - thank you so much for sharing it with me. This is exactly why I wanted to do the 2013 roundabout - I had never heard of this book before, probably wouldn't have picked it up, but... It was great!

I liked the way Dana going back forced us as readers to try to understand what it must have been like at that time, more than just reading a period piece. I loved the complexities of the relationships between Kevin, Dana, Rufus and Alice. A really thought provoking and interesting read.

On its way to Marsala! Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Thank you!

This looks good, can't wait to get stuck in.

I was really impressed by this book. It really gripped me, I couldn't read it before sleeping, because it was too intense for me on some bits. I think it's a book that will stay with me (in my mind) for a long time.

Arrived today, thanks marsala. This looks good! It will need to wait until I finish my current read, but that will give me time to attempt some repair work on the spine, which has come completely loose.

I felt the same as earthcaroleanne about this book: how come I haven't come across it earlier? I read quite a bit about slavery years ago, although admittedly most of that was set during the Civil War. This is an amazing book the way it blends history with Dana's modern outlook on life. And yet she finds herself, not accepting, but perhaps getting used to nineteenth century life somewhat. So were these slave owners products of their time? Yes, to an extent, they can't all have been evil. Would we, enlightened as we perhaps like to think we are, have done any better given the same circumstances? This book gives us some good food for thought in the 'nature versus nurture' discussion.
Thanks for including this in the roundabout, good choice!

On its way to grovalskii!

just received the book. Thanks Fifna!

I really enjoyed this book. Good insight into slavery times. One particular statement was interesting to me as a German: the Nazis tried to do in a few years what the (white) Americans accomplished in 200 years. I never thought about it that way, but it's true. Torture and total disregard of human life sure wasn't invented in the 1930s.

Off to the next reader soon

Oops, forgot to note that the book was mailed out to the next reader a couple of days ago.

got it thx!

update 09.06:
As others have been writing before, I am surprised I hadn't heard of this book before. Especially since it has been written so long ago and still seems so contemporary. I think this was a great choice for the roundabout and I am happy I got the opportunity to read this remarkable piece of science fiction.

Although I wished for a little more depth at times, I enjoyed the trouble the protagonist starts out with finding her way in this period she thought she was familiar with. Nothing prepared her for reality, not all the books and above all - not the movies. Being an "observer" and being an actual part of these times and social/cultural systems are far from being the same, as at one point Dana herself states. The narrative presents different kinds of power-play between people of different status and different natures in a way the reader can believe and sometimes relate to.

It seems easy to criticise Dana's choices from afar, but - and that is one of the strong points of this book - we cannot really judge from where we're sitting, right?

and on it goes ...

Received today

A very nice edition with introduction.

ETA: a very strange mix of sci-fi and historical which damages both. The narration is gripping enough, maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for this kind of story. The rural American setting left me cold, I don't enjoy cruelty or naturalistic abuse scenes and the time-travel part didn't hook me enough to finish.

You've found a travelling book. Hurray!
The book's journey continues by its finder's cooperation and creativity. By making a journal entry on this book, you can add to the book's story as it travels from reader to reader around the world.
Enjoy your reading!

Привет!
Спасибо, что нашли время зайти на сайт и сделать запись в журнале! Напишите, когда и где вы нашли книгу.
Перед тем, как попасть ко мне, она побывала в других уголках света. История ее путешествий записана на сайте, и теперь к ней добавился еще один пункт. Я очень рада, что она нашла нового читателя в вашем лице.

Now with me, thanks. I really meant to read this one, what a nice surprise :)

I enjoyed a quiet Saturday, and simply couldn't let go of the book until it was done. It has surely been quite a while since one gripped me like this. What I liked the most were probably the shades of gray each character had. Even the most sympathetic were guilty of sins of their own, even the most hateful found small ways of making themselves human. And all without turning the story into a moral drama, or worse, a syrupy tale of the idyllic South. I loved and hated Rufus, I rooted for Dana (although the prologue made it pretty clear ..), I kept waiting for Alice to do something stupid, and for the Weylins to go haywire. The fantasy tones are discrete, and the hypothesis easy to assume. A book that I am very happy to have had the opportunity to read.

And on the road again, heading to the next reader. Thank you all for sharing!

With me now, thank you for sending.

I was reluctant to take up this book because the subject did not appeal to me at all. When I finally did, I was surprised, first at how fast the story as well as my reading progressed and then at how eager I was to keep reading. The story touches various elements I'm not really used to or interested in, at least not usually (American history and slavery, feminism, time travelling) but somehow kept me hooked. Not only that, it inflated some unusually strong feelings in me while I was reading. I have very rarely felt such wholehearted hatred for a fictional hero as I did with Rufus -there was no excuse whatsoever for him in my opinion. Although the sci-fi element of time travelling is not explained in any logical way (simply because that's just impossible) and that seems to contradict with the rest of story's raw realism, it did not bother me or even seem random. The fact that the heroine had to face her own origins and a very cruel, very real part of human history, was actually nothing but random. Coming from her own modern time, she was forced to face them in a way no contemporary person could. The same with her husband, for whom I felt a lot as well.

I couldn't really say I enjoyed the book. It served its purpose of making me face disturbing truths very effectively. In fact one night, at some point after the middle of the story, I sacrifised many precious hours of sleep in order to keep reading until I finished it, even though I was not enjoying it at all, simply because I couldn't bear leaving it down before the dreadful situation was somehow resolved (as I knew would happen from the prologue). I don't remember this ever happening to me before and for that fact alone the author deserves praise from me. I'm also very glad that for once I skipped the introduction until I have finished the story. It's very interesting but would have probably ruined much of the effect of the plot.

This is a fine example of a book that I would have never picked myself and didn't appeal much to my taste anyway, but gave me remarkable food for thought and created some unusually strong and genuine feelings with its vivid messages. The main reason, perhaps, that the favorites roundabout was worth participating in. However it's clear I couldn't manage with its time limitations. I apologize for keeping this book so long and I once again thank you for the opportunity to read it. I'll send it to Icila, its final reader, in the next few days.

On its way to France.

And here it is, thank you !

I wasn't at ease with the sci-fi side of the story. I think I have read some books on the subject that I prefer, one of them being the Kitchen House.

On its way to Germany, without any strike here and there, I hope...

This arrived in Germany. I am confused however. This seems to have been part of the 2013 roundabout which I didn't participate in. Has this gone the wrong way again?

You are right LilyKlip, the book is indeed part of the 2013 roundabout but so terribly late that I wasn't even aware.

Started reading but it's not my cup of tea. Will see how I'll pass it on as so many liked it.

Found this on Nataliec7's wishlist and will pass it on to her.

Thanks for this wishlist book LilyKlip. Looking forward to reading it!

I don't know what drew my attention to this book, but whatever/whoever it was - THANK YOU! This is the best book I have read this year, absolutely brilliant. I found it painful to read some of the time, due to the racism and slavery aspects but that happens to me sometimes as it makes me do angry that people were treated this way because of their skin colour. But this book worked, I rooted for Dana, but got angry with her so much too. I wanted to hit Rufus and bring him to his senses and i had sympathy for Alice and her future. Kevin - stuck for 5 years! That must have been torture
This book has made me want to read all of Butlers books and I shall seek them out.5/5
This book is a little worse for wear but would love it continue travelling.ill try to repair a little before moving it on.

Now reserved for my ABC VBB

Travelling to Mysteriousmummy as chosen from my Already Bookcrossed VBB.

Thank you for sending this book to me sorry for the delay in journaling I have been on holiday

Added to a bookbox

Returned in a bookbox which has come home.

This looks and sounds very interesting and is a subject I have read quite a bit about previously. I intend to read this before sending this well travelled book on its way again.

Well, I did indeed read this and although this is a very unusual genre for me - and to be honest, I am not sure that it even fits the sci-fi genre! - it is about a subject I have read a lot on in the last few years. I too had never come across this author (I suspect the books are not published in the EU) but I am not so sure I would follow her, I would have to see what they were before deciding.

The connections between the main characters is what made the book for me as I had serious problems with a very modern uncompromising woman attempting to force her opinions and social manners on persons from another age completely. All very politically correct but from before that expression ever became fashionable.

I am glad that I read this very different book but I am another who cannot say I enjoyed it as such - I also loathe graphic violence, even when being used for negative reinforcement as here - yet it will stay with me for a while as I mull over some of the implications and how it affected me. I was also surprised by the date of publication as again, this is prior to the judgmental "modern, politically correct" thinking of the younger generations here who try to overturn historic events into something more palatable to themselves which they should be 'compensated for', rather than left as historic events as they stood in their own time not ours. As you can tell, I am not a fan of the current trend for 'revisionist history'!

A very interesting book indeed.

I do not have a firm plan for this yet but it may well travel in another bookbox, if I cannot find it on a wishlist.

Released into Bookbox. Happy travels little book.

I've taken this from the Already Crossed Bookbox.

An interesting and thought provoking book. I started off liking Rufus but then hated him whilst also feeling sorry for him.

On a bench