Outlander Book Club: Drums of Autumn Chapter 4 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
The chapter picks up at the festival Brianna and Roger had driven to at the end of the previous chapter. We start with Roger’s thoughts as he gets ready for his performance, and his thoughts come to money. He’s concerned that Brianna will think that he only wants to be with her for her money.
Of course, he doesn’t know just how much money Bree has, but he can tell from her car that she has some. And he knows Claire wouldn’t have left her without anything.
After getting changed, we get a little more time for Bree and Roger to get to know a little more about each other. That starts with Bree asking why Roger uses the name MacKenzie, giving him time to share that he is a MacKenzie and that Jeremiah is his middle name. Bree chuckles, but Roger also shares that it’s a family name.
They two talk about whether they have anyone they’re with. Roger has a girl back in Oxford, but it’s nothing serious. Bree says that there are boys interested in her, but there’s nothing serious. It keeps the door open for the two of them to be together.
While Roger performs at the festival, we get sections from Brianna’s point of view. One of the songs is from the Battle of Prestonpans, and Bree thinks about how both Claire and Jamie were there for that. It all feels a little too real for her.
She’s holding an evelope that Roger brought with her, and when she looks at what’s inside, she sees photos from Claire and Frank’s wedding. That makes Bree think about how young Claire was and how much Claire thought she had found the love of her life. Bree realizes that Claire was wrong in her assumption, so how can Bree know if she’s in love or not.
After that, Brianna has another moment of overwhelm and fear. During the calling of the clans, which Roger is a part of, he mentions the call for the Fraser clan. Brianna is a Fraser after all, but she realizes that she can’t make the call.
She manages to control her panic attack the second time, but it’s still an important moment. She doesn’t quite view herself as a Fraser just yet, and there’s a lot of foreshadowing in this moment.