Outlander Book Club: Drums of Autumn Chapter 8 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

We have Claire and Jamie sailing down the river on the way to River Run. Duncan has taken the horses across the land, while the rest are on the boat. And Jamie isn’t impressed. He hates boats. This shouldn’t be as bad as sailing on the open sea, but Claire is ready with the acupuncture needles.

There are a few thoughts as they sail down the river, including the fact that there’s a freedman sailing the boat. Claire doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about this. It’s more of a throwaway thought, something that the TV show took a little bit further. There’s also a throwaway thought about Young Ian pestering for knowledge about the Native Americans.

We also get to learn a little about Jocasta Cameron. Jamie doesn’t remember too much, being only two the last time he saw her. Jocasta has married a few Camerons, though. Now she’s the sole owner of River Run.

Later in the chapter, Jamie has a gift for Claire. There is a comment about most of the money from the sale of the ruby going to Laoghaire, but Claire doesn’t mind about that. It’s in the agreement that Jamie signed after Claire “returned from the dead.”

This gift isn’t to make up for that, though. The gift is an anniversary gift. They married 20+ years ago on that day, and Jamie wants to celebrate it.

The gift is a medicine box that belonged to a surgeon who turned up and disappeared. Nobody seems concerned about the disappearance, although it doesn’t help that nobody knew who the doctor was or where in Virginia he was from. Having just a name wasn’t enough back then to help find someone who went missing.

Claire spends a lot of time looking through the medical book that also came with the box while Jamie tries to teach Young Ian Greek and Latin. Jamie wants to make sure Young Ian will be a “man of worth.”

I told you, there’s a lot that sets up for the next chapters.