Outlander Book Club: A Breath of Snow and Ashes Chapter 90 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

We start with Claire noting how Richard Brown has gone. It’s clear that Richard is trying to figure out what to do with Claire and Jamie. He needs to find someone who will try her for murder.

Sadly, Richard wasn’t just figuring out where to do a trial. He has helped to make it easier to handle Claire. He has figured out a way to split Claire and Jamie up, and that all happens early in the chapter. Tom promises Claire that they won’t kill Jamie, but he’s not going to get Jamie back. His focus is on Claire right now.

It turns out that Claire is being taken to New Bern. That’s the only place Brown has found someone to try Claire, and we catch up with her in the prison. There’s a forger in there with her, and they are kept away from the main prison. Claire notes that it was likely a storeroom for the sheriff at first.

The group of women in the cell get along relatively well. I do like to see that they take Claire in rather than attacking her. Even the governor’s wife is nice to Claire, although she doesn’t know anything about Jamie’s location. Her husband might, but he won’t tell her any details. So, Claire has to go the night without knowing anything.

She does step in to save a life, though. A slave gives birth, but it’s a breach birth. Claire helps to get the baby out, but the baby is quickly declared dead. Claire refuses to let that be the case and she manages to breathe some life into the baby. It doesn’t fully make up for Malva’s baby dying, but it’s at least one life saved.

However, Claire learns that the slave is now going to be killed after finally giving birth to a living baby. It turns out the slave had killed her other babies, and she was to be hanged as soon as she gave birth for the crime.