Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (1991)

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Outlander by Diana Gabaldon


                If I were thrown back two hundred years in time, with none of my modern conveniences, well aware of the future that was coming I’m pretty sure I would lose my mind. Claire Randall is in that particular situation and seems to be handling it pretty well. The year is 1945 when the story begins. Claire and her husband Frank are in the Scottish Highlands on vacation. World War II is over. The two have reunited after only seeing each other six times in almost as many years, when she is ripped from this here and now and placed in 1740’s. Still in the Highlands but centuries before her birth. Attacked almost upon arrival and rescued by clansmen who then think her an English spy, her life is a state of constant peril. Then there’s Jamie the young clansmen wanted for murder hiding with the Mackenzie clan that rescued Claire. And this is where the story and the romance really get started.
                Let me start by checking off a few boxes: Character development, check; World development, check; Extremely interesting narrator full of wit, charm, and humor, double check. I’m not sure how much I would have liked this story if it hadn’t been for Claire. If this had been told in the third person it wouldn’t have been nearly as interesting or fun as it is now. Claire is a great character. She is put in an unfathomable situation of traveling two hundred years in the past. She is falling in love with a man she originally thought was a heathen, while missing the husband she is still in love with. The bad guy in this story, who you really grow to hate, is her husband Frank’s (however many times great) grandfather. It is a smorgasbord of crazy and yet day to day she makes it through. She was just so well done. A strong character that made mistakes and owned up to them, and did what she had to do to survive. I really grew to like Jamie too. He was passionate, tender and yet rough and combative at the same time. Gabaldon managed to create a believable balance that I found rather enjoyable. The cast of characters varied and yet many were interesting, captivating and well developed.
                Now I know absolutely nothing of Scottish history so I am taking Gabaldon at her word for what is supposed to happen in this story. Mind you I didn’t mind because she made everything seem so damn believable. Gabaldon successfully takes readers from post-war Scotland to 1740’s Highland. I felt as shocked as Claire with each new development, probably more so because of how unfamiliar the history is to me. I stayed invested in the here and now that was 1740’s Highland and part of me never wanted Claire to go back.

                My rating varied from 4 stars to 3.5 stars because I felt like there were times when this novel got repetitive. I don’t know if I should even say repetitive, but there were moments when the story felt like nothing was happening or they were doing the same things over and over again. I didn’t get bored, but I wanted to start skimming when this started happening. I didn’t but I felt myself wondering why we were back in the same situation. Now, this is a series. A long series with each book close to if not more than 1,000 pages each. I’m not sure if I am ready to make that kind of investment. If I do read the next book I will post that review as well. But as of right now, I am content with this book and its ending.  In the end this gets a rating of 3.5 stars. It was enjoyable but again I’m not rushing to pick up the next one. 

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