With the long-awaited release of Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone (Delacorte Press), Diana Gabaldon’s ninth installment of the Outlander series, it’s time to revisit Jamie and Claire Fraser, and where we, as readers, stand within the Outlander universe. It’s been seven years since the release of Written In My Own Heart’s Blood, so there’s no time to waste.
Each of the eight previous Outlander novels exceeds a thousand pages, and it would take me as long to explain the bewitching details of the series. But I’ll give you a wee dram of this captivating tale. Claire Beauchamp Randall is an English World War II nurse, and in 1946, she visits the circle of ancient standing stones of Craigh na Dun, outside of Inverness, Scotland. She’s in the Highlands with her husband, Frank Randall, trying to reconnect with him after their prolonged wartime separation.
Claire is magically whisked through the stones, back in time to 1743 Scotland when the Scottish clans are on the verge of Battle of Culloden, which will be their last stand before the British obliterate their country and culture. Claire, believed to be a healer, is captured by the Mackenzie clan and forced to marry Jamie Fraser, the hunky swashbuckling outlaw nephew of the clan’s leader. If she refuses, she will be turned over to the ruthless British Captain Black Jack Randall, one of her husband’s ancestors and his spitting image.
A SHORT, SPOILER-FREE SERIES REFRESHER
Without revealing any spoilers, Claire and Jamie become star-crossed lovers, transcending time, space and standing stones. The saga spans 50 years, and their journey takes them to the West Indies, France, the British Isles and, eventually, America. Jamie and Claire eventually settle in Fraser’s Ridge, North Carolina, during the tense years before the Revolutionary War, putting family ties and loyalties to the test.
While the racing hearts of the story belong to Jamie and Claire, the true heart of the story is about honor, responsibility and family — both adopted and blood. Throughout the tale, a wide variety of colorful characters forms an extended family as the Frasers battle natural disasters, the occult, the British, indigenous people, secrets, clan infighting and a repressive society. It is a world where enemies become friends and vice versa, and where the reader never knows when they’ll encounter Bonnie Prince Charlie, Ben Franklin or George Washington.
Bringing her 20th-century knowledge and sensibilities into the past, Claire is a symbol of a contemporary woman’s struggle against the patriarchal attitudes of the 18th century. Jamie is a gallant, enlightened guy with a terrific sense of humor who always has Claire’s back, even when he’s clueless about what she’s doing. The two complement each other in intelligence, cunning, sentimentality and sexuality, even when Claire is faced with bigamy — being married to Jamie in the 1700s and Frank in the 1940s. Their indiscretions, separations and trials only seem to make their marriage stronger.
OUR WORLDWIDE OUTLANDER OBSESSION
With the heat Claire and Jamie generate, it’s no wonder that millions of people have become obsessed with this power couple. The Starz hit series Outlander, which is slated to release Season 6 in early 2022 and Season 7 soon afterward, has expanded the universe beyond the page onto the screen. The BBC has reported that Outlander has boosted Scotland’s tourism with visits to shooting locations like the Culloden Battlefield, Castle Doune and Blackness Castle having risen over 200 percent in recent years. Gabaldon has even received a special “International Contribution to Scottish Tourism” award in recognition of the “Outlander Effect.” And that’s just Scottish tourism.
Back here in the states, there are Outlander-inspired knitting patterns and websites, Outlander Facebook and Instagram groups, and Outlander merchandise (kilts, whisky, whisky glasses, calendars, coloring books, t-shirts, etc.). Around the world, sold-out conventions allow fans to get their kilts on — Outlander Con (U.S.), LandCon (France), Highlanders (Glasgow), Outlandish Vancouver, Outlandish Australia, The Gathering (Kansas City, MO) and Fraser’s Ridge (Ferguson, NC).
Has Outlander swept me up into its universe? You bet! I attended the 2019 Outlander panel at NY Comic-Con, the Season 5 premiere in New York City and the Season 4 premiere and the Savannah College of Art and Design costume exhibit in Georgia. It’s fun to swap stories with other superfans, and I salute their dedication to knowing every detail about the lives of the Fraser clan. And, yes, I’ve read all the books and their spin-offs, and I’ve preordered an author-signed copy of Go Tell the Bees.
And to think the Outlander global phenomenon began with a historical fiction novel. Before you can say “Sassenach” (Jamie’s nickname for Claire, and Outlander star Sam Heughan’s whisky company), Gabaldon’s newest installment will hit the shelves tomorrow and readers will have more Fraser material to enjoy and obsess over.
Gabaldon’s enchanting Outlander series is absolute proof that art and literature make the world a better place. All you have to do is believe and travel through the stones.
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Photo © Nancy Castaldo
About Diana Gabaldon:
Diana Gabaldon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the wildly popular Outlander novels — Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes (for which she won a Quill Award and the Corine International Book Prize), An Echo in the Bone, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, and Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone — as well as the related Lord John Grey books, Lord John and the Private Matter, Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, Lord John and the Hand of Devils, and The Scottish Prisoner; a collection of novellas, Seven Stones to Stand or Fall; three works of nonfiction, “I Give You My Body . . .” and The Outlandish Companion, Volumes 1 and 2; the Outlander graphic novel The Exile; and The Official Outlander Coloring Book. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her husband.
Great warm up Jode to a long awaited novel. Recently I have revisited yet again the Stars series of Outlander. I am definitely a draughtlander sufferer and having the book to read will be such a gift. Thank you for your update. As always I so enjoy your writing.