Outlander Book Club: Drums of Autumn Chapter 2 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

Of course, Jamie wondering if Bonnet is a good man is foreshadowing. It’s clear this man is going to come up at a later point in the story. The initial comments suggest that he will only be a problem for Claire and Jamie, but we now know he’s a bigger problem for many other people.

That’s not the only foreshadowing though. Some of it is for a later book in the series.

Claire brings up that people used to steal bodies from graves for medical students. She realizes the slip-up. They do it now, and it’s not just bodies from the graves. Jamie and Young Ian share that prisoners are taken to be used for schooling.

Young Ian shares how his dad knew someone with consumption in the Tolbooth and that person was taken to be used for schools. Later in the book series, Ian Murray dies of TB, which is what consumption was back then. It’s just a small hint of things to come, and possibly where Ian originally picked up the illness.

Claire has her own foreshadowing when she thinks of Brianna. She’s happy that Bree is safe in her own time, but it’s a hint that that’s not always going to be the case. Bree will turn up in the past, whether Claire likes it or not.

Adapting the Drums of Autumn chapter

This chapter was used, although shortened a little. We didn’t have the conversation about the Tolbooth nor did we have the moments where Claire was falling asleep in the cart which was used in the book.

The focus was purely on burying Gavin and then helping Bonnet escape. Jamie didn’t take him to the creek. Instead, Claire bandaged his leg and helped him on his way. But the overall sentiment of the chapter was the same. Jamie and Claire had helped a dangerous man who would become a huge problem for them later in the story.

One thing that I loved from the Outlander Season 4 premiere was Jamie and Young Ian’s discussion at the graveside. During Voyager, Young Ian opened up to Jamie about what had happened to him with Geillis. That is left for the premiere episode, and I was so glad the show found a way to keep it in. This is important to show the mental effect Geillis had on Young Ian.

What did you spot while reading Drums of Autumn Chapter 2? Let us know in the comments below.

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