Outlander by, Diana Gabaldon is the first novel in a series of (currently) nine novels, many spin off novellas and texts, and a TV show. The protagonist, Claire Randall, and her husband are visiting the highlands of Scotland, in Inverness, in 1945 - 6 months after WW2 ends. Both Claire and Frank served in the war, Claire as a combat nurse. Post-war, she takes up botany as a hobby and is interested in studying the medicinal uses of plants. One, day, Claire visits a stone circle and upon touching one of the stones, she is catapulted back in time to 1743; two years for the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. Here, she meets a slew of color characters, most importantly she meets Jamie Fraser. Claire is thus torn between staying in the past or returning to Frank.
I hope you have a cup of tea ready and a snack because this is going to be a long review. This is my second read of Outlander and there is so much to discuss (spoiler-free) - I really want to do this fantastic piece of fiction justice. First, I’ll go into three of the characters (Claire, Frank and Jamie) and then I’ll touch on some themes, move on to Gabaldon as a writer and then conclude with my final thoughts.
Claire is such a fascinating character to me - on my reread of this I was reminded of how funny and smart she is. The novel is told completely from Claire’s first person perspective, so the reader is completely enveloped in everything that she’s feeling. Claire is also quite the unreliable narrator - a literary device that I love. Right when she travels through the stones, her main goal is to get back home, yet the reader can tell that as time progresses, that drive is waning, regardless of how much she’s telling herself this is still her goal.
Claire finds herself in a lot of precarious situations and Gabaldon does an excellent job subtly indicating how Claire is coping with these events. I’ll call her “Hysterical Claire” for when she outright reaches a breaking point and “Clinical Claire” for when she becomes detached and reverts to her medical training to process what’s happening to or around her. Hysterical Claire is pretty obvious, but Clinical Claire can be bit tricker to detect. I love the subtly in which Gabaldon does this and really makes being in Claire’s head for 850 pages engaging.
The last thing I want to mention regarding Claire is how many names she has in this novel. It’s extremely important which name is being used by another character, or which name Claire is using towards herself - Mrs. Randall, Mrs. Beauchamp, Claire, and the infamous “Sassenach.” So much can be revealed in a name and how it’s used depending on the context, and again, Gabaldon excels at this.
On to Frank. Frank’s appearance in Outlander is very brief, as Claire is sent to 1743 very early on in the plot. However, just enough about Frank is given to show how he and Claire interact and to provide enough characterization for the reader to contrast him with Jamie. There is nothing wrong with Frank - he’s a quiet, reserved, academic man. Claire and Frank do love one another and one gets the impression of a married couple who is comfortable and relaxed. They humor each other, though there is nothing “intense” about their relationship. There is an instance in which Frank is embarrassed by Claire, as she has a bit of a potty mouth and doesn’t always conform to what is deemed acceptable behavior for a woman in the 1940s. Ironically, Claire’s rambunctiousness is better suited for the ruggedness of the highlands and her Scottish companions.
Ah. Jamie Fraser - the lead male character and one of those fictional men who is deemed as “the man of all men.” Jamie, in many ways, is the exact opposite of Frank in both appearance and personality. Both are handsome men, but where Frank is lean and aristocratic, Jamie is solid and rugged. I like to use the “beefcake vs. cupcake” analogy. Jamie is exuberant, comical, and kind; my favorite thing about Jamie is his ability to find humor in even the worst situations. Jamie and Claire has an instant chemistry - they can often tell what the other is thinking through a simple glance or gesture. Diana Gabaldon does this effortlessly and managed to make this not cringey.
Outlander is set in a world in which time travel is possible. This first book remains rather vague about what those rules are and who can and cannot time travel, but it does open the door for some mystical realism and a world in which certain things just “are.” Claire encounters a water horse in a loch, there are stories of faeries and changelings, as Claire is in a part of Scotland what is widely superstitious. Claire, though very modern, can coexist in a historical setting like the 1740s and not feel as if the author is pushing 20th century ideals on the past because this is a universe in which time and people’s place in time is fluid. Strange characters, though not always accepted aren’t necessarily out of place.
What is really interesting, is that Claire embraces some things that are seemingly impossible, while pushing away other ideas. She accepts that she travels through time, she accepts that she saw a water horse, but witches, faeries and changelings? “That’s absurd!”
There are five main themes that I’d most like to discuss. The main one being about fate and how the world/events will orchestrate themselves to ensure that what is supposed to happens, happens. This is seen mainly, of course, with Claire and Jamie and the novel is about their relationship. But it also has to do with history and rather or not history can be changed, a theme I’ll segway into right… now!
Another theme is “the weight of knowing.” Claire, being from the future, knows how devastating the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion will be to Scotland and this is difficult for her as she becomes acquainted with these passionate, proud clansmen.
“Being a prophet was a very uncomfortable occupation, I thought, not for the first time. I felt considerable sympathy with Jeremiah and his Lamentations. I also realized exactly why Cassandra was so unpopular.” (This also made me wonder that if Gabaldon is implying that in her series, prophets/prophetesses are other time travelers…)
This leads into the next theme - What are the moral and ethical responsibilities of the time traveler? Does a person have a right to try and manipulate the past? Gabaldon begins to play around with these questions, but it gets explored in more depth in the sequel, Dragonfly in Amber.
“You say that you are afraid to take any actions here for fear of affecting the future. This is illogical, madame. Everyone’s actions affect the future. … The only difference is that you may be in a position to see more clearly what effects your actions have - and then again, you may not.”
Gabaldon also heavily emphasizes how people tend to romanticize the past. Once Claire travels back in time, she beings to realize how romanticizing history results in an incomplete understanding of what life was really like for the people who actually lived during that period.
“One never stops to think what underlies romance. Tragedy and terror, transmuted by time.”
Lastly, there is this focus on home and permanency. Claire’s childhood was transient and WW2 resulted in upheaval of it’s own. Claire actually feels more at home in 1745 Scotland and is able to experience things that her 20th century life did not provide. Right at the beginning of the novel, she’s looking forward to a permanent home life with Frank.
Before concluding with my final thoughts, I would like to rave about Gabaldon as a writer. Her writing is vivid. Every detail is deliberate and nothing is wasted. I was not expecting to pick up on so many bread crumbs on my second read. She uses a lot of symbolism, especially to show how the longer Claire stays in 1743 Scotland, the harder it’s getting for her to leave.
Gabaldon also uses a tactic often referred to as a “three-beat.” I think this is easier to detect in tv shows and films. In a nutshell, a three-beat is when the same theme, imagery, event occurs three times in slightly different ways throughout the span of a novel/show/movie. The purpose is to show how something develops/arcs from beginning-middle-end to exemplify the progression or culmination of something. There is a three-beat in this novel with wolves and the third beat is so blatant that I didn’t realize a three beat was happening until this final wolf encounter. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there is a very significant scene with Claire and a wolf, and if anyone has read Outlander, I need to discuss this with somebody. I’ve heard other readers complain about this scene because it’s “bizarre” but Gabaldon is being very deliberate here and it’s symbolizing something happening with Claire.
Finally, Gabadlon is a master at “showing, not telling.” Don’t get me wrong, there are several scenes in the novel that are extremely graphic. However, there are other scenes in which Gabaldon is very reserved. She gives the reader just enough to figure out what’s happening and acknowledges the intelligence of the reader to connect the dots. It takes a lot of restraint to do this. There is this really touching scene in which Claire and other person overhear Jamie and another character talk about these two women. Even though we are in Claire’s head, Gabaldon never reveals what Claire and the other woman are feeling. We simply get this conversation. The way reading that scene feels is exactly what Claire feels and it’s excellent, skilled, intelligent, mature storytelling. Gabaldon trusts the intelligence of the reader to assume. Phenomenal.
If you can’t tell by the length and the detail of this review, I love this book. My second reread gave this book a place in my top ten novels of all time. I love a smart, evocative story with great writing, an engaging plot and endearing characters. I also like that I cannot seem to place Outlander into any particular genre. Is it a romance? Is it historical fiction? Is it Sci-fi? Yes, this novel is mainly about Jamie and Claire, but there is so much going on for the reader to invest in. It also leads me to ask, why do we always need to place novels in a category. I see now why after the first 10 years of it’s publication, the series has been re-marketed from romance to general fiction. Outlander gave me a serious book hangover and it took a lot of will power for me to set it aside and not pick up Dragonfly in Amber for a reread. Out of the 9 books, I’ve only read the first 3. Now I’m committed to making my way through the whole series because Outlander is a wild ride and I’m here for it.
Rating: 5/5
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