Outlander Book Club: Book 2, Chapter 27 breakdown

Foreshadowing within the Outlander chapter

This chapter seemed so completely in the moment, except for one thing. Louis makes it clear that Jamie cannot stay in Paris if he is released from the Bastille. However, he’s exiled from Scotland.

Louis makes it clear that something can be arranged. We get this element of foreshadowing that Claire and Jamie will get to go home. They will no longer be at the mercy of the people of Paris and of Jared, which is probably a good thing since Claire has told Louis the truth.

Claire does also mention that the French Revolution won’t happen for another 40 years. It’s not something that comes up in the books (at least, yet, since we’re not at that point), but it could be something mentioned after the American Revolution is finished.

I do also get a sense that there are a lot of goodbyes without a goodbye in this chapter. It’s like the last time we’ll see some of the characters in the Outlander story. At least, in the main ones.

There’s also the mention of Black Jack Randall not being killed. We continue to get this idea that BJR is Frank’s direct ancestor, while also getting the foreshadowing that he is going to come back.

Adapting the Dragonfly in Amber chapter

This is a chapter used considerably for the series. It had to be, after all! There are just a few changes to suit what needed to be done for the show’s timing and budget.

Since Claire wasn’t at Louise’s country home and Murtagh never went off to Portugal, the way Claire realized she needed to get Jamie out of the Bastille had to change. Claire had learned what had happened almost instantly. Nobody held that information from her since there was no reason for her to think he was elsewhere.

Instead of Murtagh on the ship pressing her to get Jamie out, it was all about Claire learning why Jamie had dueled Black Jack Randall. Fergus opened up and told her what happened to him.

In a way, I prefer the way the show did it. Cutting out the ship storyline was important for the amount to time available on the show. Having Claire learn what happened to Fergus helped her realize that dueling wasn’t something Jamie did for himself. It wasn’t a selfish action that broken his vow to her. Instead, he did it to protect someone else; to protect someone important to both of them. Claire would have likely done the same.

There’s a line from the show that stood out for me that wasn’t included in the book. When Mother Hildegarde tells Claire that she will have to sleep with Louis to arrange Jamie’s release, Claire says her dignity is something to add to the list of things she’s lost while in Paris. It’s a poignant line that she has lost so much, but she is willing to do this for Jamie because of why Jamie dueled Black Jack Randall.

For the most part, the rest of the storyline played out the same. We still had the scene where Claire had to figure out how to save both Comte St. Germain and Master Raymond, but sadly, it wouldn’t work out.

What did you get in your reading of Outlander Book 2, Chapter 27? Share in the comments below.

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