Outlander Book Club: An Echo in the Bone Chapter 27 breakdown
Just the Outlander chapter
The chapter starts with Bree at work. She is trapped in a tunnel by the three men who showed her around earlier. They all set it up so she would be in this tunnel in the dark, and it’s clear that they expect her to panic. Why would they do this except to show that they have no respect for a woman in her position in the workplace?
They immediately anger me. I can’t stand men like this today. There are too many of these fragile little boys who are scared of equality. But that’s a whole other topic. Let’s stick to the book.
Bree doesn’t panic. She gets angry, but she doesn’t panic. She does manage to find a door that has a slither of light, and she manages to find her way remembering the way around the tunnel from earlier in the day. She knows the train is ahead, and she’ll be able to start the train. However, this is when trouble comes.
Bree trips and she starts to hear the sound of the stones. There’s a portal somewhere around, and Bree panics that she may have gone through time. All she can hope is that either she didn’t. She just has to hope that she’s still in the 20th century, but she won’t find out until she gets out of this tunnel.
I did have some fear in this moment. If she was trapped in the past, what would that have meant with this tunnel? Would she have been trapped inside an actual tunnel that wouldn’t have been fully constructed? It did give me the clue that she hadn’t actually traveled through time, though, especially when she mentions that it didn’t feel the same. Plus, Bree thinks about this. The tunnel didn’t exist 25 years ago, so she would be stuck in rock if she did go into the past.
When she gets out, she is back where she belongs. The men are outside, two of them impressed with her attitude. Rob Cameron is not, calling Bree “hen” to make it clear that he still has no respect for her in the workplace. He also thinks highly of himself, and it’s clear that Bree has no respect for him.
The term “hen” also stands out. I know this is a commonly used term for women in Scotland, even now. However, to be used against Bree makes me feel sick. Bonnet referred to her in the same way multiple times, and I’m sure it would have made Bree sick to keep hearing it from another man.