The follow up to Outlander offers a glimpse of what led to the Jacobite rising in the 1700’s, but not from a strictly Scottish perspective.
Burdened with the gift of knowledge Claire and Jamie are thrust into politics, which forces Jamie to rely on his intellect as opposed to animal instinct, and call forth a wisdom not typical of men of his young age. He has an innate ability to read people and motives clearly, making him a competent political dancer, and I couldn’t help but admire the ease with which he sets himself to the task. But in my mind Jamie is a warrior, and the magnetism he possessed in the first book is somewhat lost for me when he’s behaving as a cultured gentleman. I much prefer his education and his appearance to be contradictory, because I like the idea that other characters would be surprised to find this animal of a man is really quite the scholar.
Claire is equally out of place in cultured society, even more so given that she still thinks as though she lives in the 1900’s. But in Dragonfly Claire has even more opportunity to explore the healing arts of the 1700’s, and while herbs and remedies are as hard to keep track of as French noblemen I enjoyed reading about her ability to diagnose and treat ailments without the tools she relied on in more modern times. Her brash tongue and matter-of-fact way of assessing a situation are still intact, and as someone who always seems to have the best commentary in my mind long after its relevant, her wit made me admire and appreciate her all the more.
Though Claire and Jamie maintain and in some ways enhance their passion, again through their emotional exposure to one another, I found that their story was lost a bit in the historical detail of the book, at least initially. There are so many layers to the Jacobite rising, from the people and countries that influenced it and the motives of each, that it was sometimes hard to keep track of them, and while I appreciate the complexities of the political climate and role that plays in the story, particularly for characters that know the future and are trying to change it, I sometimes felt Jamie and Claire were supporting characters in their own story, because their sense of obligation outweighed all else. Of course they wouldn’t be Jamie and Claire otherwise, so I accept the need to give history equal attention. Fortunately this did not apply to the entire book in the sense that Jamie and Claire do once again take center stage.
Jamie does return to his warrior roots, and in this he regains the magnetism that made me like him in the first book. Whether it be through wit, charm, humor or conviction he commands the attention of those around him, and it’s as a leader of men that he seems whole as a person. But it’s his love of Claire that makes him whole as a man, and I love that while on the surface he seems to be the stereotypical strong male his greatest strength actually comes from Claire. It’s in their confessions to one another where they reveal both their vulnerability and strength that their intimacy is fully understood, and despite them being fictional characters their connection is a powerful one. As someone who guards my emotions even with my closest friends and family, I have a little envy for their ability to be so raw, and the bond that creates.
Once again the level of detail in terms of history, culture and primitive medical practices is staggering, and while at times overwhelming its part of what makes the story complete, because these elements contribute to who Jamie and Claire are and how they behave. But what sticks with me most is the depth of their connection to one another, which transcends differences of opinion, politics, fears and even time.
Michele Lenard 