Outlander Book Club: Written in My Own Heart’s Blood Chapter 31 breakdown

Just the Outlander chapter

The chapter starts with Brian and Roger getting to know each other. Roger mostly sticks to the truth. He shares that he owns some land and his wife is looking after it. What he doesn’t say is that it’s Lallybroch in the 1980s. No need to frighten Brian.

Roger then explains that he is training to be a minister, which is something Brian can see. This leads to a discussion about lawyers as Brian viewed Roger as a potential lawyer. Roger makes it clear that he doesn’t like lawyers, but Brian knows that they are needed for the law. When the conversation moves onto Jamie, he makes it clear that Jamie doesn’t have the patience to be a lawyer. Jamie would rather solve things with his fists.

We do get to learn about Ian Murray, who is fighting in France right now. We know that fighting for the militia in France is what leads to Ian losing his leg. That hasn’t happened yet.

We also learn that Brian fought on the Stuart side in the Stuart/Hanover battles. Brian is ashamed to mention that, though. Roger decides to focus on the music that came from that, chanting the music that he knows. Brian would like the lyrics and Roger realizes that he’s about to write the words of a Robert Burns poem long before it was written. Will this cause a problem in history? Probably not.

At the end of the chapter, Roger goes to the room he is staying in. It’s what becomes Jem and Mandy’s playroom in the 1980s, which is an interesting turn of events.