I read Outlander over a 3-week period while we were on
vacation, and it more than lived up to all the hype I’d heard. It was perfect vacation reading: the
story pulled me in and kept me reading – yes, through all 850 pages!
It’s the story of a young British woman named Claire who, in
1945, is vacationing with her husband, Frank, in Scotland after the end of the
war. Frank worked in intelligence
during the war, and Claire worked as a nurse, so they are reuniting after a
long separation. Frank is into
genealogy and is taking advantage of their time in Scotland to gather more
information about his ancestors.
The excitement begins when Claire visits an ancient stone
circle in the area and is somehow pulled into the past: far into the past. Stuck in the 1730’s, Claire does her
best to survive and blend in. She
meets one of her husband’s ancestors whom Frank had been studying, Jonathan
Randall, and he turns out to be a nasty, sadistic British officer. She also meets a young Scot named Jamie
who has inadvertently made himself Randall’s greatest enemy. Of course, Claire’s modern medical
training is extremely useful in the 1730’s, though as a woman, she is viewed
with suspicion as much as gratitude.
This is an epic novel, filled with battles, castles,
warriors, heroes and villains, and romance. It is also a very graphic novel, with some exceptional
violence and explicit love scenes (and, disturbingly, sometimes the two
intersect). In fact, my husband
read Outlander a few years ago and
found a scene toward the end just too disturbing – that kind of ruined the book
for him. As for me, I’m no fan of
violence, but I enjoyed this compelling novel in spite of its graphic nature (I
do understand that violence was a part of life during that time in
history). I came to really care
about Claire, caught between two worlds, and I was rooting for her. I often enjoy time travel stories, but
this one is also so much more. I
think I need to find time to read book 2!
850 pages, Bantam Dell
I read it in 2009 and really liked it. Still haven't read the second book but I intend to!! I'm glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I am planning to get to it someday, but the size does make you sort of look at it twice before picking it up!
ReplyDeleteGroan - this is another big book that I really want to get to. Even more so now! I might save this for Christmas time when I can curl up under the blanket, tea in hand and kids in bed early!
ReplyDeleteVoyager was my favorite so far. I think. I really liked The Fiery Cross too. Unfortunately A Breath of Snow and Ashes has been sitting in my TBR pile for years. I need to get to it. The next book is already out.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE the Outlander series. It's fabulous, all the way through. I've read all the books in it, and am waiting anxiously for the next book to come out. I think there's one more, and it will be a really big book. She's a wonderful writer, and I can't wait to see what she tackles next!! (BTW, my fave book is A Breath of Snow and Ashes. It's awesome!!)
ReplyDelete