Written in My Own Heart’s Blood
Outlander, Book #8
By Diana Gabaldon
ISBN# 9780385344432
Author’s Website: dianagabaldon.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Review
This book picks up where the previous novel left off. Everyone thought Jamie and Jenny died in a shipwreck. Claire married Lord John Grey to avoid being arrested for distributing Fergus’s pamphlets. And, one night overwhelmed with grief John and Claire, now married, had sex. They both pictured they were with Jamie, of course.
Now, Jamie and Jenny have returned proving they aren’t dead. There has been a massive tear in Jamie and John’s relationship now though. John could be nothing, but honest, and confessed to having been with Claire and what they both had imagined, at the time. During Jamie & John’s confrontation, they were discovered by Rebel soldiers. Jamie handed John over to them, making John a prisoner of war. One the soldiers were looking forward to having hanged.
William now knows the truth of his parentage and is devastated to be get of a Scottish criminal. And, he’s angry that so many knew the truth and kept it from him. He feels the betrayal of his ‘father’, Lord John Grey, most of all.
The relationship between Ian and Rachel is blooming as they figure out how best to wed, as their union will not be one that the Quakers will support. However, their wedding is fast-tracked when Ian is injured while scouting for the American army. Rachel no longer wishes to wait. However, the fear Ian has about future bairns still lingers.
The city of Philadelphia is in chaos as the British army vacates the city as the Rebels approach. Jamie is once again pressured to serve the cause, much to Claire’s ire. Of course, she goes with him to serve as a healer. However, Jamie throws his duty out the window when Claire is injured. He will not allow anything to remove him from her side.
Jamie and Claire start making plans along with the rest of their family to head back to Fraser’s Ridge. Although it is unclear, what Fergus will do as he was unhappy and unable to make a living on the Ridge before, with only one hand. He and Marsali know it’s time to leave Philadelphia though, it isn’t safe for them and their children.
Meanwhile, in Brianna’s time, someone has discovered her ability to travel through the stones. Jem has been kidnapped. They believe his abductor took him through the stones to find the treasure that only Jamie and Jem know the location of. Roger and his ancestor, Buck, go through the stones to find him. However, they didn’t go to the time they had expected to go to. With the help of Brian Fraser, they scour the area for Jem, to no avail.
Brianna finds Jem in her own time, but how will she ever be reunited with Roger? He won’t leave the past if he thinks Jem is there. And, with the current threat to her and the kids now, the past may be the safest place for them.
It’s always quite the undertaking for me to read one of these novels. They are just so large and laden with history, which I’m not much of a fan of, to be honest. However, being so deep into the series, I’m a bit invested at this point and must continue.
The things that happened in this book, did keep my interest. However, I’m disappointed overall. For such a large book, it felt like nothing much actually happened. In retrospect, a lot actually went on in this book though. I think it’s gotten to a point though that there are just so many characters and so many storylines going on simultaneously that none of them are fully explored or fleshed out. You will get a scene that really sparks your interest and want more of. However, you don’t see those characters for another 100 pages or so and by the time you do see them, too much time has gone on so you don’t see a continuation of what you wanted to see … it’s just gone.
I’m to the point, I wonder if the series would be better served with different books focusing on a specific set of characters. Instead of trying to stuff them all in one book. Although an entire book, of Brianna and Roger or the Greys would be actual torture for me.
Ian is my absolute favorite character in the series, at this point. He dealt with a lot in this book. Dealing with and letting go of his past to forge a future for him and Rachel. He had such heartbreak and joy in this story. However, I think that both he and the readers were short-changed. We were just given light strokes of his story in passing and never got to be immersed in it and truly feel what he was going through. I love emotion in the stories and I had been craving this for several books now and I feel let down. I was expecting and craving so much more.
There were deaths in this book, one that was described as the world ending, and it was barely touched on. If it was a world-ending occurrence, how could it be wrapped up in a chapter or two? Chapters that were also shared with other events?
There were new unions I felt should have been more explored as well that were barely mentioned.
I think the book could have used some chapters from Fergus’s point-of-view as well. He had a lot to deal with emotionally. Also, I love Germain… he’s such a Fergus mini-me.
It seemed that everything is this book was very superficial, since nothing was delved into all that deeply. Even the history aspects that are usually too strong for my liking, seemed barely explored. This book feels like the author is trying to do too much and overall, the book feels incomplete (even though it was over a thousand pages … how is that even possible?). I just wanted so much more. And, I’m still really upset about how little of Ian’s emotional journey is in this book.
