Outlander Book Club: A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 26 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The chapter starts with Roger returning from his trip with Jamie. He wants to find solace in Brianna’s arm, but there are other matters to attend to. The first is the hole that she’s digging.

Brianna has made room for a groundhog kiln. It turns out that she may have found a way to make it possible to get some underboard heating. We get to see Brianna trying to bring a touch of the modern-day to the 18th century, and this is a great way to do things. If it remains small, it wouldn’t be that easy for anyone to see what she’s doing, which could help to keep prying eyes away.

The discussion of getting the pottery to work into pipes brings up the topic of Marsali and Fergus. Brianna notes that she’s worried about Marsali. Fergus’s attitude is changing, and Brianna worries that Fergus is beating her. She also notes that he’s drinking more and not helping Marsali do anything.

It is hard for Fergus to do the heavier chores because he only has one hand. However, he doesn’t help with the children. We all know his view of “women’s work,” and he’s not interested in doing any of that. Roger offers to talk to Roger about it. He can’t let all this go on for longer, but he can’t talk to Jamie about it first. Jamie would kill Fergus if he heard the truth.