As a modern woman living in the past, Dana's experiences and perspectives are vastly different from those around her, which leaves her feeling isolated and out of place. Interestingly, this shared sense of alienation might be what draws her to others. Reflecting on why she is repeatedly drawn back in time to save Rufus, she realizes that their blood connection isn't the whole explanation: "What we had was something new, something that didn't even have a name. Some matching strangeness in us that may or may not have come from being related."

Her relationship with Kevin is built on a similar foundation of shared difference. When they first meet, Dana sees him as "as lonely and out of place as I was." As she learns more about him, she understands that this mutual loneliness makes him "like me—a kindred spirit crazy enough to keep on trying." On the plantation, Dana finds her closest allies in those who also feel disconnected from the slave community: Carrie, due to her inability to speak, and Alice, because of her role as Rufus' mistress.

Even after returning to their own time, Dana and Kevin still feel out of place, needing time to readjust to the twentieth century. However, this mutual sense of alienation strengthens their relationship: "It was easy for us to be together, knowing we shared experiences no one else would believe."