Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 27 breakdown

Just a look at the Outlander chapter

Claire tells us more about Lallybroch in this chapter. Something that stands out to me is how she comments on the modernness of the house for its time. It’s odd to think of a house in the 18th-century being “modern” but we’re looking at it as being 300 years in the past from our particular time in 2020. Even Claire is considering this as a person from the 20th century.

However, she notes some of the things that Lallybroch has that many other homes in the area don’t. I don’t remember her going into the details of the kitchen and things like that at the castle, and that’s possibly because of the circumstances.

While Jenny is wary of Claire, it’s only because of her protectiveness of her brother. It’s not because she thinks Claire is a spy. Throughout her time at Leoch, Claire had to keep her guard up. That’s not the case so much at Lallybroch. She’s able to it in with daily life.

And she does, even if it’s just sitting with Jenny and talking right now. This starts a bond between sisters, and I so wish this bond could have been much better in future books. But let’s keep focused on this particular chapter.

There’s also a chance to see Jamie interact with Wee Jamie. He wants to teach his nephew a few useful things in life, such as not peeing on your shoes! Of course, uncles have the best lessons for their nephews! It reminds me of the lessons my sister teaches my daughters.

At the end of the day, Claire and Jamie spend some time together, which is when Jamie shares a little more about his brother and the paintings Ellen did. More important, we get to know about Sawney, the snake that Willie had given Jamie as just a boy.

While for some this might seem unimportant, it gives us a look at how important family is to Jamie. Even more than 15 years later, Jamie keeps Willie’s memory alive. He thinks about him and holds a piece of Willie close to him. Family means everything to Jamie, and there’s no way that anyone he loves will ever be forgotten about.

Finally, we get to know when Jamie fell in love with Claire. It was at the very beginning of them meeting, but he kept it close to his chest to protect his feelings knowing that Claire didn’t feel the same for him. What we don’t get to find out is when Claire realized she definitely loved Jamie, and I do suspect that that wasn’t until the decision at the stones.