When it comes to historical fiction, I always recommend the same novel – Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I’ll be honest, my plans were to re-read this series from start to finish (all 5872 pages) since the seventh book, An Echo in the Bone, is scheduled to be release sometime in 2009. Alas, I wasn’t able to start it just yet, but since I’m hosting the Bookworms Carnival this month and the theme is Historical Fiction, I couldn’t think of any other novel I wanted to do.
Outlander is the beginning of a great saga and love story between Jamie (a 1700s Scottish warrior) and Claire (a WW2 army nurse). The story begins with Claire finally getting a honeymoon with her husband, Frank Randall, at a small town bed and breakfast in Scotland. Her husband, a historian and former army soldier, is in love with the local legends and soon gets caught up in the history with fellow historian Rev. Wakefield. During one of these afternoon discussions, Claire takes the time to explore the countryside and look for some of the herbs known for their medical uses. She ends up stumbling upon one of the many stone circles that dot the British Isles and the next thing she knows, she’s being chased by Black Jack Randall, the 18th century ancestor to her husband. What happens next is the story of how Claire sets out to help Scotland avoid one of the bloodiest battles in it’s history (the Jacobite Rising of 1745) and her romance with Jamie Fraser.
The one thing I both love and despise about Gabaldon is her accuracy with her historical content. I love it because it’s so vivid and so real that it’s easy to escape into her novels and imagine that you’re in the middle of the battles. I despise it because it takes her around 2 years to write each novel which means I don’t get my fix often enough.
The trials that both Jamie and Claire go through are real for that time period. What would happen if you found yourself 200 years in the past? Claire had one thing going for her, she had the medical experience that she was able to pass herself off as a wise woman. However, this often created problems for her since there were some during these times that also saw wise women as witches. Through all of this, Claire has Jamie to lean on and he’s there supporting and protecting her the entire time. She tells him she’s from the future, and since this time period was her husband’s forte, she knows what Scotland is about to go through. She tries to convey this to Jamie, but seriously, what would your reaction be to someone spouting off that they were from the future? Can you expect an 18th century man to behave any differently. While Jamie doesn’t react with fire and brimstone, he doesn’t necessarily believe her either, but he’s falling for her, so he doesn’t let it bother him. He only acknowledges it for the truth when he allows Claire to convince him to take her back to the stone circle so she can try and go back to her own future; yet he’s not able to let her go. He loves her and doesn’t want to lose her. By this time, the two had been together for a couple of months and Claire had come to love Jamie just as much, so she gives up her hot showers and modern conveniences to stay with Jamie.
Outlander can be found in a lot of different genres – science fiction, historical fiction, romance, etc – but it’s one of those great crossover novels that sells everything it’s about. There is a love story going on, but there’s also the beginnings of the Jacobite Rising of 1745 taking place in the background. Everything Claire and Jamie does ultimately goes back to trying to avoid this and I’ll spoil this for you right now, they don’t succeed. There is war, intrigue, manipulations, and all other activities that are involved during a war and Gabaldon writes them so beautifully that its hard not to get immersed in the action. Probably the best part of this is she doesn’t try and fit it all in one book. There is so much intrigue going on, that she continues the story in Drums of Autumn without leaving you hanging in Outlander.
On top of these great plots, Gabaldon doesn’t waste her characters. She develops them so well that it’s hard not to get emotionally involved with them. Even now, years after I first read their story, I’m still captivated by Jamie, Claire and everyone they encounter. I cried when Jamie loses his godfather; I cried when they had to separate. There can not be a great love story without great characters and Gabaldon delivers.
At this point, I feel like I’m rambling on about Outlander and honestly, I could go on forever. Diana Gabaldon is not only one of my “must-buys”, but I don’t wait for the paperbacks. This series is so awesome, I not only have it in hardcover, but I’ve gone through three copies of paperbacks, of the entire series. That’s how often I’ve read them. I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves historical fiction or just wants a really great story with fascinating characters.
Read Order:
Outlander
Dragonfly in Amber
Voyager
Drums of Autumn
The Fiery Cross
Breath of Snow and Ashes
An Echo in the Bone
Written In My Own Heart’s Blood (2013)
I am not a big fan of time travels, but this book is the ultimate in romance historical fiction. Jamie and Clare of a couple for the ages.
I agree with you on the time travel thing. When I first came across a copy of Voyager in my mom’s collection, I hesitated to read it because of the time travel. But it’s really well done and not emphasized too much. It’s just a mechanism to get Claire and Jamie together and that’s it.
I don’t read a lot of historical fiction but this is one I can’t recommend to friends highly enough. My sister first brought the series to my attention and when I tried to pick up copies at the local used book store I came across a startling coincidence. I figured with Gabladon’s best seller status there would be plenty of copies of most titles. Right? Wrong! I asked the owner why and he said he always sells out and explained.
Apparently all the local readers (except me) knew that Diana Gabaldon comes up to the Fergus Highland Games in nearby Fergus Ontario (about 15 minutes from where I live) most years to do research for her books. The fans would come in and clean the store out to get their copies signed at the games.
I ended up buying the series new.
This is my favorite book in the series. I’ve heard that there is talk of a movie!
Outlander has been optioned, but no word on when production will be. They are trying though.