Nancy Jardine Author

Outlander Book 1 - A recent Read!

Outlander (formerly published as Cross Stitch) – By Diana Gabaldon

I read it during the 1990s, and remembered really enjoying it, but since I’ve been totally engrossed in watching the current TV series of Outlander, I decided to do the re-read. This meant I could appreciate what was inevitably left out of the book since it’s a very lengthy novel. I think the current film for TV version is fairly true to the story and I’m glad to see that the bits that have been used by the director are really exciting parts. There are many others in the book as exciting though there are some parts I found quite slow reading. 

The author is a master at lengthy description which as a reader I love since it makes me really feel I’m right in there with the characters. This expertise means the settings are vividly portrayed and the time shift scenes handled very well with no confusion for me as I read the story. 

I find Claire can be a bit overpowering and arrogant, at times, but that’s well balanced by the easily lovable Jamie and many of the other characters. Randall is definitely not so lovable in the novel and the re-read reminded me that there are some quite shocking themes that run through the story. I now intend to read books 2 & 3 when I can set aside enough time since they are also long stories. 

A thrilling 5*  read .

Slainthe!