Outlander Book Club: Drums of Autumn Chapter 18 breakdown

Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter

Let’s talk foreshadowing. There certainly is some in Drums of Autumn Chapter 18.

The main bit of foreshadowing is in the conversation between Roger and Brianna after he proposes. There’s a mention of Claire going back in time and meeting a highlander, making it clear that Bree and Roger will eventually go back in time. That’s how Bree will realize just who she really loves.

While Bree is not Claire, she does have some similarities in her storyline. The difference with Bree is that she goes back in time and realizes she wants her modern man instead of falling for someone in the past.

However, we also get the foreshadowing that eventually, she may be happy to marry despite not loving someone. While she doesn’t want to, there are times when the situation is out of her control and she has to do what’s right to keep herself safe in a time period unfavorable to women.

I think we also get the foreshadowing of this modern woman in a time that is everything that she doesn’t fit in. Brianna is a free spirit. She wants to finish college and go into a world of work that a woman wouldn’t have done in the past. Yet, we see these women in Inverness judging her and Roger for their closeness, making it clear there is more of that to come.

Adapting the Drums of Autumn chapter

I keep saying that the TV show has a problem with giving us time to get to know Brianna and Roger. That’s all the more obvious with how Drums of Autumn Chapter 18 was adapted for the series.

In the book, we’ve had a chance to get to know Bree and Roger a little better by this point. The chapter also gives us a chance to hear Brianna’s thoughts on marriage and see Roger respect her need for patience.

The TV series never gave us that. While the show did keep Bree’s reasoning for not saying yes to the proposal the same, it changed Roger’s reaction.

He kept his anger. Now I have no problem with Roger wanting to marry Brianna before sleeping with her. I respect that of him, especially considering he is a man of the time. However, his anger toward her even after she explained the situation was unwarranted.

But I guess the show points out that we do and say things in anger. Maybe the book Roger is just a little too perfect because the show Roger did feel like more of how that sort of conversation would have gone down. It doesn’t mean I like Roger for it, though, and I actually love Roger.

The entire church part was skipped over. The TV series hasn’t focused as much on the different religions as the book does, although touches on it now and then. The change to the placement of the proposal (putting it at the festival) made sense for the show, which was limited on the time it could spend on this storyline.

What did you spot while reading Drums of Autumn Chapter 18? Let us know in the comments below.

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