We’ve come to the end of another short story in our Outlander Book Club readthrough. You know what that means. It’s time to start another short story, and we will pick up with Virgins next.
Virgins is the next short story in the Seven Stones to Stand or Fall collection, so it makes sense to move onto this one. It is actually set before the entire Outlander book series, as it follows a very young Jamie Fraser. Oh yes, Jamie is in this short story, along with a young Ian Murray.
When we’ll start Virgins
I’m going to take a week off from the short story readthroughs, as this will give everyone a chance to get caught up on A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows. As much as I would love to start on World Outlander Day (June 1), it doesn’t quite work for the schedule and I think we could all do with a bit of a break. Plus, there is going to be a lot of Outlander: Blood of My Blood news around then, so I want to keep the focus on that.
So, with all that in mind, we’ll start on Monday, June 9. We’ll do a section a week day as we have been doing for some time now.
I will likely take a bit of a longer break after this one. I think we’re going to get a bit too close to the premiere of Outlander: Blood of My Blood, and there will be a lot of time spent on the episodes and breaking them down. This is just a warning, as I haven’t ready Virgins yet, so I’m not too sure how long it is.
What is Virgins about?
Virgins by Diana Gabaldon takes us back to pre-Outlander times. Jamie Fraser is just 19 and Ian Murray is 20. The two best friends are heading to France to fight. They have never killed a man, have never slept with a woman, and are terrified of going to Hell. Well, all of that may change as they end up with an important task.
The two need to get a young Jewish bride to Paris from Bordeaux, and they need to get the priceless Torah with her, which is going to be her dowry. It’s not just a time of war, but a time of when there was a lot of antisemitism around, and that puts Jamie and Ian’s lives in danger on this journey. It also promises to make men out of them, and they come back from France as very different people.
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