Outlander Book Club: An Echo in the Bone Chapter 47 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The chapter starts with Rob, Callahan, and Roger at the site of the old church on the MacKenzie property. Rob’s friend, Callahan, is an archeologist, and I am curious what brings everyone here in the first place. Why would Rob want someone to dig up the site?

In the end, Callahan doesn’t find anything too interesting. The stones are from different time periods, but that’s not uncommon for Scotland. In fact, a lot of countries will see different types of stone added over the years.

I think the point of all this is to give us Rob’s backstory. We learn that Rob’s ex-wife is French. She went back to France with their child and Rob hasn’t seen them since. Rob also has a good voice, and he manages to connect with the children through singing—yes, Roger is jealous.

That evening, Roger gets home to see two wine glasses on the table. Bree has passed the probationary period, and Roger is successful in teaching Gaelic in schools. It turns out that Rob bought the wine, though. Is there a reason for that? Why is Rob bringing wine to celebrate Bree when it’s always been clear that he doesn’t really like Bree in charge?

Once the children quieten down, Bree and Roger can have some time together. She tells him that she brought the hardhat home, but he only gets his fantasy if he tells her why he had the champagne glass. It turns out that he was trying to figure out the note Bree makes while they are together.

Bree turns the conversation onto the law of thermodynamics only to get to the point that she wants to transfer heat. Maybe they can get the pitch a little lower. I love this geeky bit of foreplay between them.