Outlander Book Club: An Echo in the Bone Chapter 9 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The chapter starts with Claire, Jamie, and Young Ian setting off on their journey back to Scotland. There is some apprehension. Ian is both nervous and excited. He hasn’t been home in so many years, and he’s not the same boy as he was when he was kidnapped in Scotland.

Jamie is also worried. How will people take the tattoos Ian has? Will Jenny blame Jamie for the things that happened to her son? I love that Rollo is also going, but will he be on the ship with them? How will Jenny react to this half-wolf best friend of her son’s?

There is a moment where it feels like Rollo understands everything that Ian is saying. Ian jokes that Rollo should stick to hunting red deer or else he’ll end up shot by Jamie. Rollo just seems to roll his eyes as if to say “this family!”

Jamie does note that Claire doesn’t have a home to go to. There isn’t one in the past anymore because the Big House has burned down, and she doesn’t have one in the 20th century anymore. Claire makes it clear that home is where her heart is. It’s with Jamie. It’s always been with Jamie.

I do have to question the items Claire takes with her on her travels, and I can only think that she’s looking at slowly rebuilding her surgery. She has white chalk and a feather. Why would she have them?

What she doesn’t have is a knife. In the previous chapter, she told Jamie that she has her scalpal to defend herself. In this chapter, Jamie gifts her a knife. It fits perfectly in Claire’s hands, and I love that Jamie notes that he’s going to know her hand size based on their bedroom activities. He’s very observant and…thoughtful?

Jamie cuts his thumb to show how sharp the knife is. Claire does the same and then holds their bleeding thumbs next to each other. They renew their vows in this moment, and it’s such a romantic end to the chapter.