Outlander Book Club: Book 2, Chapter 5 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
Claire, Roger, and Brianna all go to St. Kilda. Roger had suggested the trip in the previous chapter, knowing that Black Jack Randall’s gravestone was here.
Claire wasn’t sure why they were going. What could this small, deconsecrated church hold to help with the research? However, she went along with her press for the flowers. I love that we still have this connection back to the earlier chapters from the first book. I wonder if it’s the same press that was given to her or if she’s got an updated one in the last 20 years.
Along the journey around, Claire sees the gravestone for Black Jack Randall. It doesn’t make a lot of sense why he was here and not in Sussex, where he was from. However, Claire goes white as a sheet. She explains that he was a horrible man, which shocks both Roger and Brianna.
It turns out Frank has only had good things to say about his ancestor. It’s like he doesn’t even know the truth about BJR. More on that in the foreshadowing section.
While Roger and Brianna continue to look around St. Kilda, Claire gets some air to process what she’s just seen. It’s when she comes to join Bree and Roger that she notices another headstone.
It’s Jamie’s.
This is a huge shock to Claire. While she knew that Jamie had likely died at Culloden—in fact, that’s something she believes in her heart—she wasn’t expecting to come across his headstone. She believed he would have been one of those burned with the memorial headstone at Culloden.
What this does, though, is open up the chance for Claire to tell Brianna the truth. It’s not the way she wanted to tell Brianna, but it’s the only option at this point. How else could she explain how she could know someone who died 200 years earlier?
Back at the manse, Claire shares the story of traveling through the stones. She goes through the cliff notes of the first book, which is perfect for those who had picked up Dragonfly in Amber without realizing there was a first book. However, there aren’t enough spoilers to ruin that first book for those who want to go back.
Brianna doesn’t take the news well, and she doesn’t exactly believe Claire. Roger is more open to believing the story, possibly because it helps all his research make sense.
We end the chapter with Roger learning that Claire met the Bonnie Prince Charlie, and that sets us up to go back to 1744.