Outlander Book Club: Voyager Chapter 24 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
We spend a few pages of Voyager Chapter 24 at the stones. Claire has fallen through time again, this time on purpose. While she now thinks of Brianna, she only had Jamie on her mind as she went through the stones. He is her anchor, something that we get the idea she thinks she needs to steer through the stones.
One thing she doesn’t know is how long it’s taken for her to wake up at the stones. She’s soaked through from the rain, which suggests she’s been there for a while. Anyone who knows Scottish rain, though, will know that it doesn’t take too long to end up soaked to the bone in it. It’s a misty, stringy rain that just sticks to everything! That’s the best way I can describe it.
Anyway, Claire thinks about how she should have asked the tailor who made her cloak to add a waterproof layer between the material. She also thinks about how painful the trip through the stones was, reminding us that it’s not a pleasant experience at all. The TV show doesn’t go into the pain that much, but the books remind us each time.
Now Claire has to get to Inverness, which is an hour away by car but she is on foot. Maybe she can stop at a house on the way and buy a horse. We don’t know exactly what she does, but she eventually gets to Inverness and then gets the public coach to Edinburgh. On there, she picks up an admirer, but she is able to get away from him.
Claire has packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to eat, and she has the last one just before going to Jamie in Edinburgh. And I do want to take a minute to comment on something that made me smile.
Many fans of the TV show have a problem with Frank using the term diaper instead of nappy when talking about the tea bags because as a British man he’d likely say nappy. What I’ve never heard people complain about is Claire saying jelly instead of jam. Jelly is Jell-O in the UK.
As a British mom living in Canada, I say diaper because that’s simply what I hear more, although I still say jam (and crisps instead of chips) because I don’t hear the Canadian/U.S. terms as much yet. We pick up the terms we hear a lot. So, I understand why Frank and Claire both use the U.S. terms. I’ve never really overthought it, but I do find there is sometimes a double standard when it comes to certain characters or even when it comes to the TV show.
Back to the chapter. Now that she’s finished her sandwich, Claire knows she needs to face her fear. She needs to find Alexander Malcolm and see if this man really is Jamie Fraser. If not, she’ll head to Lallybroch, hoping that the Murrays are still there.
On the way, she passes a mom with three children. Claire is very kind to the mom and children, praising the children and the way the mom looks, but she’s doing it more to make the mom happier. Claire notes to herself that the mom looks older than Claire is, despite Claire being in her late 40s and the mom being in her late 20s. It’s all to do with nutrition and hard labor—the state of the 18th century.
Finally, Claire gets to the print shop. Sure enough, it’s Jamie. We get this climactic and amusing moment. Jamie faints upon seeing Claire, never expecting to see her there. When he wakes and closer to the end of the chapter, he tells Claire that while he’s seen her plenty of times, she has never spoken to him. That was the first sign that she was really there.
There is a little embarrassment during the reunion, as Jamie has sat on his ale pot and split it all over his pants. He’s not even sure he wants to undress in front of Claire at first. However, Claire reminds him that they are married still.
Geordie walks in on them, the man Jamie initially thought Claire would be. Geordie isn’t happy about what he sees, believing Jamie to be immoral. He quits, but Jamie will explain things later. The focus is on Claire right now.
And Brianna, of course. Claire gets the chance to tell Jamie about Bree and show him the photos she’s brought. Jamie is overwhelmed by everything, meaning Claire has to go through the photos for him and shares that Brianna’s first word was “dog.” Her second word was “no.”
While talking about her, Jamie points out that Brianna is a terrible name. When he realizes it’s the feminine version of Brian, he realizes that Claire is pronouncing it wrong and tells her how he’d say it.
The ending of the reunion comes when Claire’s stomach starts rumbling. That leads to Jamie remembering he was supposed to meet Mr. Willoughby at the tavern four hours ago. Claire will have to come with him.