Claire, Jamie, and Ian get ready to return to Lallybroch in Outlander Book 7, Chapter 9
After packing, it’s time to make the journey to Scotland. Outlander Book 7, Chapter 9 brings up the topic of home. Is it a place or a person?
I love this chapter when it comes to the topic of home. As someone who hasn’t set roots anywhere in her whole adult life, I totally understand that home can be a person. Home for me is my children and my best friend. But I also feel home when I return to see my parents. The meaning of home is different for everyone.
During the chapter, Claire and Jamie renew their vows. It’s nothing big or flashy. It’s romantic, and just for the two of them. We get to see that love again between them.
This chapter certainly foreshadows things to come in Scotland. I’ll get to that in the adaptation section.
Will we see this adapted for the TV series? I’ll get to my thoughts on that in the adaptation section. Not all of it is necessary, but I do hope we see some of it.
Let’s dive into An Echo in the Bone Chapter 9.
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.
Foreshadowing in the Outlander chapter
I feel like there is a bit of foreshadowing in this chapter. The first is the way Ian will be received. We know that Jenny isn’t going to be happy, but she ends up with other problems. Her husband is dying. I feel like we get some foreshadowing of Jenny learning the truth about Claire and then blaming Claire for Ian’s death.
We also have some foreshadowing of Claire and Jamie being separated yet again. This all comes from renewing their vows. Every time the two of them get this sort of moment, they’re separated. Look at in Dragonfly in Amber when they carve their initials in their thumbs before Claire goes through the stones.
Adapting An Echo in the Bone chapter
I’m not sure a lot of this chapter will end up being used. We’ve seen the series skip over some of the more romantic moments, although there were attempts to add in the carving of the initials in the thumbs. I’d love to see this moment from An Echo in the Bone though. The writers could even combine the Dragonfly in Amber moment with this moment. We need to see this devotion to each other.
I also want to see Ian’s mixed emotions about going home. He hasn’t seen his mother since he was abducted. He chose to make a life in North Carolina, and he chose then to become part of the Mohawk tribe. There have been so many changes, and it’s only natural for a son to worry about what his parents will think. This offers some great character development for Young Ian, so I think it’s necessary.
What did you spot while reading An Echo in the Bone Chapter 9? Let us know in the comments below.
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