Outlander Book Club: An Echo in the Bone Chapter 72 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

Brianna thinks about how Roger can’t see her smelling the letters. This is her way of staying close to her parents, and it’s clear she misses them dearly. This isn’t someone separated by water but by time. And it’s interesting that the letter is dated Nov. 1. The stones would have been open for time travel.

The letter runs through what happened to Jamie, the fact that Ian is in love and is technically a murderer, and that the Frasers are on their way to Scotland. Claire shares the ship’s name and talks a little about the coffin.

Kos, the polish engineer who Jamie got along well with, came up with the idea to line the coffin with lead. This is important due to the decomposition of the body along the journey. Jamie and Claire are traveling with a Mohawk who speaks very little English. This Mohawk looked up to Simon Fraser, so wants to travel with him. I can’t remember now, but was this supposed to be Ian? Was this the way around getting him on the ship?

I can’t remember if this comes up in a later chapter, and I try to write these posts before reading the next chapter to make sure I don’t mix events up. My memory isn’t what it used to be.

The chapter ends with Jamie writing a postscript to the letter. It’s the Feast of Saints, and Jamie wants Bree to pray for him. Does this suggest that he thinks his soul is in Purgatory?