Outlander Book Club: Voyager Chapter 7 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

A lot of Voyager Chapter 7 focuses on the tales of the past, especially of the Dunbonnet. We’ve already seen that part of the story play out.

However, I do get the sense that Fiona becomes more important in the search. There’s an element of foreshadowing that she knows far more than she’s letting on right now. She knows the stories from her grandmother and she’s probably overheard more from the research into Jamie. Fiona is just waiting for the right time to become more involved.

We know Fiona becomes one of those who learns the truth about time travel. It definitely seems like there’s a hint of that in this chapter.

There’s also the mention of Joe Abernathy. It seems odd that Claire would suddenly mention him if he wasn’t going to become a bigger part of the story. Keep that name in mind because he is important to Claire and Brianna.

Finally, there’s an element of foreshadowing to the American Revolution. Frank mentions how the Founding Fathers all had their passion to birth a new country. They put lives on the line for that belief. We know the American Revolution becomes an important part of the story later on.

Adapting the Voyager chapter

While the tale of the Dunbonnet and the searching through the prison lists was part of Outlander Season 3, not all of this chapter was adapted. The show focused on the most important part of the chapter, the search for Jamie Fraser through historical records.

Claire’s flashback to almost quitting med school wasn’t included. The show jumped from Claire starting med school to her graduating. Due to lack of time on the TV show, we needed to jump straight to Frank’s potential affair (I’m still not 100% convinced he was honest in saying he was having an affair) and his wish to take Brianna to England.

I do always find it a shame that we didn’t get more time in the 20-year separation. We get two full seasons to cover two-and-a-half years of Claire in the past and then just three episodes to cover 20 years. And that’s all because the EPs knew there would be complaints of Claire and Jamie being separated for so long in a season.

As someone who is interested in far more than just the story of Claire and Jamie together, I was disappointed. I love delving into supporting characters (it’s something I’ve adored about Lovecraft Country) and I love seeing what makes a character who they are after two decades. However, the EPs can’t make everyone happy, as we all know.

At least the biggest parts of the chapter made it to the show.

What did you spot while reading Voyager Chapter 7? Share in the comments below.

Follow Claire and Jamie on Facebook for the latest Outlander Book Club chapters and more.