Book info

• Title Outlander
• Author Diana Gabaldon
• Year 1991
• Genres Historical, Romance, Fantasy

What if your future was the past? 1946, and Claire Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband Frank. It’s a second honeymoon, a chance to learn how war has changed them and to re-establish their loving marriage. But one afternoon, Claire walks through a circle of standing stones and vanishes into 1743, where the first person she meets is a British army officer - her husband’s six-times great-grandfather. Unfortunately, Black Jack Randall is not the man his descendant is, and while trying to escape him, Claire falls into the hands of a gang of Scottish outlaws, and finds herself a Sassenach - an outlander - in danger from both Jacobites and Redcoats. Marooned amid danger, passion and violence, her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.

Review

I was vaguely aware of there being a TV adaptation of this book but knew very little about it, except there was a small time travelling element. Of course that spoke to me, so whilst having not seen the TV show, I thought I’d check out the book. The time travel is only a small part of it, the rest being more of a historical romance drama, but it does still have an impact at various points along the way.

I quite liked the story, although it felt long, and I know this is part of a series but it didn’t really feel like it came to an ending, more of a pause. Which I don’t know if I liked or not. There was a lot of violence, and I did start to wonder if any body could actually live through as much as Jamie did, but that’s fiction for you.

My only real complaint, though, is to not know what happened to those left behind! Poor Frank, not only for being abandoned but also for having such a misconstrued idea of his ancestors. If ever someone needed to go on Who Do You Think You Are?

Rating: 4 / 5