Sherry F. (sherryfair) reviewed on 9/4/2005 + 55 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

Author Gabaldon tips her hat to the ghost of Walter Scott and proves that the Scotland-based epic historical novel is alive and well in the 21st century. This is a gorgeous, detailed book that also manages to keep up a good pace. It's full of action, and not sparing with violence, particularly towards the end. It pulls you in immediately, with the witty voice of its tough, resourceful, peppery, highly capable first-person narrator, Claire. (If you're prone to be impatient with the more helpless romance heroines, this could be the book for you.) Claire is an army nurse, who's just come through the hell of World War II, and she's taking a second honeymoon, trying to reconnect with her husband, an academic historian named Frank (who I wish were a little better-developed in this first book in a multiple-volume love triangle). The couple land up in Scotland, reseaching Frank's ancestors, and also viewing the gorgeous countryside, and in particular, an ancient arrangement of stones, sort of like Stonehenge. As for the third point on the triangle, the 18th century Scotsman, Jamie, he's about as good as it gets in romantic heroes. I found this thick book spell-binding, and I'm not easy: I'm only fond of time-traveling romances when they're extremely well done, since the ultimate conflict of choosing which world you'll live in is so predictable. This is also a well-written book, full of sensory details. You can feel the fog on your cheeks and practically smell the trees in the outdoor scenes. (And P.S., if you don't use the "r" word (romance), and act really low-keyed about the love triangle, you can even get men to read this book. Friends report success with it in book clubs with mixed memberships, as well as with loaning it to older sons and husbands.)

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