Outlander
Fiction
New York, N.Y. : Delacore Press ; Toronto : Doubleday Canada
1991
Audiobook
627
Hurtled back through time more than two hundred years to Scotland in 1743, Claire Randall finds herself caught in the midst of an unfamiliar world torn apart by violence, pestilence, and revolution and haunted by her growing feelings for James Fraser, a young soldier
WrensReads Review:
“When I asked my da how ye knew which was the right woman, he told me when the time came, I’d have no doubt. And I didn’t. When I woke in the dark under that tree on the road to Leoch, with you sitting on my chest, cursing me for bleeding to death, I said to myself, ‘Jamie Fraser, for all ye canna see what she looks like, and for all she weighs as much as a good draft horse, this is the woman”
This book struck a chord in my heart I didn’t know I actually had.
Now I want to voice to anyone who isn’t aware already that this book talks about rape, there is attempted rape and rape situations.
Not only that but there is a scene where Claire is literally spanked by Jaime because she got the whole group in a big mess that could have been avoided if she would have done what Jaime told her to do. Now I know all you feminist out there are like outraged and your panties are all in knots and what not, but seriously it is 1743. If a wife didn’t do what her husband asked her to do, sometimes they could be straight up killed and no one blinks an eye.
Jaime told her what he had to do and why it had to happen even though she knew what she did wrong and he didn’t do it out of anger. And he didn’t expect her to like it or to forgive him.
Now, would I just dismiss someone doing that in our time? Absolutely not. Do I think it was the right thing to do? Are you kidding me? No. Would I have not fought back and getting furious with Jaime if I was in Claire’s situation? You bet your bottom dollar I would have scratched his eyes out. But, again, this is 1743. It is a different time and they did things differently, no matter how wrong it actually is.
And yes, I am a feminist in case you got the vibe I wasn’t. I am literally just saying that times have evolved for the better and when a woman from 1945 goes backwards to 1743, she is going to be treated differently because women unfortunately have not always been treated with the equal respect that we deserve.
Anyway, warnings and rants over, let me tell you about the epic dilemma that Claire finds herself in…. she time travels into the past leaving her husband and gaining a new one who is a fugitive with the law. It’s okay though, he is super dreamy and lovely.
Claire ends up having to marry Jaime in order to be released of the English laws and going to see the devil himself named Randall. Thankfully, it works but Randall is still the absolute worst. There is a special spot in hell for men like him.
“And if your life is a suitable exchange for my honor, why is my honor not a suitable exchange for your life?”
Claire has to adapt to being someone’s second. She was a nurse in the war, so she knows about medicines and how to handle certain injuries. This can lead to a lot of problems, as some things have not been discovered. I mean, they still use leeches. GAG ME PUHPLEASE.
I can’t really say a lot about this book without giving things away. Claire deals a lot with loving two men in two different times, being called a witch for the knowledge she has, seeing people poorly treated that wouldn’t be tolerated in her time. Jaime deals with having a wife who knows more about sex than he does and knowing there is more to her than she leads on.
Basically this is an epic love story role into a time-travel history-lesson book. Like this author did her research. You can tell with all the details and all the attention to the events going around them that Gabaldon gives. She truly wrote a masterpiece.
On that note, I am taking a break from this series. It is long, it is detailed, it is high and romance… it is high in emotions and I know if I start the next one now, I will not be doing myself any favors. A break from this will make me more anxious to read the next! Distance makes the heart fonder, right? (That could have a double meaning…)
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This broke and mended my heart so many times. RTC
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Want to point out that I started this book before Christmas and I still have a while to go. Not sure why this book is taking so long, because I do really like it! It’s just so much detail and so long!
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More than half way through this book. It’s super detailed and super thick with information, but not very action-centered. Lots of pages, but I am actually enjoying it! It’s just a slower read for me.