Kindred

The protagonist, Dana a black woman living in Los Angeles and the year is 1976 is somehow caught in a timetravel phenomena where she is pulled back in time to 1815 by her ancestor, Rufus, the son of a white plantation owner and slave holder. On her first trip in time Rufus is a child drowning. Dana rescues him and after manages eventually to return to her own time only missing 10 minutes. On her third trip to slave times by coincidence her husband a white man is pulled back along with her.
What develops between Rufus and Dana is a standoff of sorts Rufus is a slaveowner and has the right to control and even kill Dana, but he knows that Dana is his protector. Dana also knows that Rufus is her ancestor and she can’t be rid of him until his children exist in order to eventually beget Dana. Rufus is an alcoholic, (I am guessing) manic-depressive, entitled by the institution of slavery and at the same time aware of his dependence on Dana.
This book made me more viscerally aware of the horror of slavery where owners could divide families, dole out extreme corporal punishment.