Outlander Book Club: Book 1, Chapter 40 breakdown

Adapting the Outlander chapter for the show

Some of this chapter was certainly used on the show. The main part was Claire confessing her “sins” to Anslem. This happened during the perpetual adoration instead of in her room, but it still had somewhat of the same effect.

The idea was that Claire was able to lift this weight on her shoulders. Up to this point, she’d only trusted Jamie with the truth. Anyone else would have likely put her back on trial as a witch. Anslem could have been suspicious, but instead, he looked at is as a miracle.

If I remember rightly (it’s been a while), Anslem didn’t necessarily believe Claire in the show. He was a conduit for God, and it didn’t matter what he believed. All that mattered was what God believed and what the Virgin Mary believed. They would know she was true to her heart.

We got to see the differences between the two types of religious leaders. Father Bain used his position to scare people and keep people in line. Anslem simply wanted to guide and help.

The change wasn’t detrimental. Opting for it at the perpetual adoration was likely better for time.

We did get a few elements of Claire and Jamie reconnecting. Jamie shared more about what happened to him at Wentworth, but it didn’t include anything about Alex. That was saved for the second season with the reveal that BJR wasn’t dead.

I do find the TV series more graphic than the books when it comes to Jamie’s trauma at Wentworth Prison. I’m not sure why that was. Maybe to make it stand out, to raise awareness of male rape. From what I understand, it was far more graphic than Tobias Menzies and Sam Heughan expected and probably wouldn’t be done that way now. I do wonder what the show would have done had the episodes been filmed today.

What did you spot during your reading of Outlander Book 1, Chapter 40? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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