Outlander Book Club: A Breath of Snow and Ashes Epilogue 1 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The series starts with Brianna at Lallybroch in the 1980s. She is running through things with a building, while her children play upstairs. It’s clear that she is working on repairs needed for a house that has been left empty for some time.

Jemmy calls out because Mandy has bitten him. This is when we get an idea that some time has passed. Mandy is able to say some words, and there’s no way that would happen in just a few months.

The builder thinks back to Scotland’s past as Roger appears with some boxes that he found at the Reverend’s house. One of them had a note from a defunct banking house in Edinburgh. The note makes it clear that only the name on the box can open it: Jeremiah Alexander Ian Fraser MacKenzie. This is for young Jemmy.

Brianna ends up opening the box, and she is immediately hit with the smell of her mother. Yes, this is a box from Claire and Jamie and holds some letters, books, and a well-handled Cherrywood snake. I just love that Jamie saved the snake from the fire and sent it to his grandson as a way to keep the two of them connected. It still sends shivers down my spine when I think about it.

One of the letters has the date Dec. 31, 1776. The first thing she learns is that Claire and Jamie are alive and well. It’s after the fire. We just have this collision of past and present, but it’s so warming for Bree to learn that her parents did make it—and that the newspaper was wrong.

This is one of the reasons why I don’t mind the TV series having the date smudged. After all, the date wasn’t correct in the book. Why did we need the exact year in the TV series?