I saw another parallel with the medical Chest. I haven't gone back to check this but the first medical chest that Jaime gave Claire on the boat up the river when they first got to NC, on the way to meet Jocasta. It was some sort of anniversary, present. Wasn't it?
Karen, your points are well taken, BUT and it's a big one...........Claire has always been an independent woman and her love for Jamie is steadfast and true. While I can see that she would marry Lord John to stay out of prison,(still I'm hesitant to even fathom this, but given the times, I accept it) but never ever, ever to sleep with him. Though I do get why Lord John wanted to sleep with her. I found it so hard to believe that Claire would just accept the fact the Jamie was dead without any investigation of her own. It just doesn't fit for me!! It will be very interesting to see how this is addressed in the next book.
I agree with you about Claire marrying Lord John. I don't like it and I did not like the fact that they had sex. Couldn't Claire have a proper mourning period? Couldn't she hold out hope that he survived the ship sinking? After all their years together she has to know that he has come back from the "dead" to return to her. I have to say that it was very disappointing to read this part of the book.
You may or may not like the explanation of their coupling that LJG gives to Jamie upon his return but I personally LOVED it because I suspected what was going on at the time.
Karen,
I have always thought that Lord John loved Jamie as much as Claire did. You mentionned several proves of it. One prove that is above all for me is that he gives Hector's ring to Jamie without any hesitation nor explanation (just before Bonnet execution).
The other point is that I am not scandalized at all that Claire and Lord John end up in bed. They both are at the paroxysm of pain and mourning. They have cryed, they have drunk. They are the ones that can share their grief. I think it was not deliberate, it was only a question of getting comfort from each other.
If only Claire had Lord John's child, it would have been a wonderful plot twist
To read that Claire and Lord John Grey was extremely disappointing to me. I understood and liked reading the getting married plot, as they were doing it so that LJG could protect her, and I believe Jamie had once asked LJG to take care of Claire in case he died. However, I was shocked and disappointed at the idea of them having sex, and so soon after the news, regardless of how much “comfort” they both needed. I think this was disloyal to Jamie, no matter how the author tries to explain that they were both thinking about Jamie. It did not seem to me that Claire was grieving as much as I would imagine at the news of Jamie’s death. It seemed almost as if she wasn’t mourning his death. Less than a month and she already has sex with someone else? And the whole casual conversation in bed the following morning, as if nothing really important happened? It seems disloyal to his memory, even if they both believed he was dead. I keep thinking about Jamie’s words to Claire in one of the season 6 episodes, when they are talking about the things he loved about her, and he says: “above all creatures on earth, you are loyal.” Well, reading the ending of Echo In The Bone after that has shattered me. I hope this storyline doesn’t make it to the TV show.
Looking for OUTLANDER discussions? Check out TheLitForum.com! This is Diana Gabaldon's longtime online hangout, and I have been Section Leader (moderator) of the Diana Gabaldon section on the forum since 2008. Diana is on the forum almost every day, and often responds to questions or comments from forum members, sometimes in detail. You have to register in order to read or post on the forum, but it's free.
May 1, 1721 - Jamie is born (OUTLANDISH COMPANION)
May, 1744 - Fergus is branded by Jack Randall; Jamie duels with Randall, wounding him in the groin; Claire miscarries Faith and nearly dies from childbed fever (DRAGONFLY)
May 16, 1753 - Jamie arrives at Ardsmuir prison (VOYAGER)
May, 1757 - Geneva Dunsany blackmails Jamie into sleeping with her (VOYAGER)
May, 1758 - Lord John surprises Percy and Lieutenant Weber in a very compromising situation (BOTB)
May 15, 1770 - Jemmy is born (DRUMS)
May, 1771 - Roger is hanged and nearly dies (FIERY CROSS)
May, 1775 - Malva Christie falsely accuses Jamie of getting her pregnant (ABOSAA)
May 3, 1777 - Jamie dreams of Jem and Mandy in the broch (ECHO)
Mid-May, 1777 - Jamie, Claire, and young Ian encounter pirates on the high seas (ECHO)
May, 1778 - Lord John marries Claire to keep her from arrest as a spy; Jamie is presumed dead in a shipwreck; Lord John and Claire have sex (ECHO)
May 18, 1778 - Claire and Lord John attend the Mischianza (ECHO)
May 1, 1945 - Claire travels back in time to the 18th century (OUTLANDER)
May, 1948 - Newspaper accounts and Rev. Wakefield's journal document Claire's return from the 18th century (DRAGONFLY)
May 1, 1968 - Gillian Edgars (aka Geillis Duncan) kills her husband at Craigh na Dun and travels back in time to the 18th century (DRAGONFLY)
May 1, 1971 - Brianna goes back in time to the 18th century (DRUMS)
Leave a Comment