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Overview
Eagerly anticipated by her legions of fans, this sixth novel in Diana Gabaldons bestselling Outlander saga is a masterpiece of historical fiction from one of the most popular authors of our time.
Since the initial publication of Outlander fifteen years ago, Diana Gabaldons New York Times bestselling saga has won the hearts of readers the world over and sold more than twelve million books. Now, A Breath of Snow and Ashes continues the extraordinary story of 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his 20th-century wife, Claire.
The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest.
With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamies death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.
Details
- ISBN-13: 9780385324168
- ISBN-10: 0385324162
- Publisher: Delacorte Press
- Publish Date: September 2005
- Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 3.05 pounds
- Page Count: 992
BookPage® Reviews
Gabaldon's romantic saga continues
It's been almost four years since the last volume of Diana Gabaldon's genre-bending Outlander saga was published. With the appearance of A Breath of Snow and Ashes, fans will slip back into the story with ease.
As we rejoin time-traveling surgeon Claire Fraser and her hunky red-haired husband Jamie, it is 1773 in remote western North Carolina. They are living on the edge of civilization, on the edge of war and on the edge of a political predicament. Claire, her daughter Brianna and son-in-law Roger MacKenzie are all time-travelers from the 20th century. They know how the American Revolution will turn out, but to declare themselves on the winning side too soon could provoke a brutal response. As if that weren't enough, the Frasers and MacKenzies must also cope with armed Cherokee Indians, renegade militias, the King's soldiers, suspicious Presbyterians, mysterious pregnancies, not-quite-trustworthy relations and a homicidal pig.
This installment in the series is not about witches, pirates, magic or deadly battles. Larger-than-life elements are all here, but these are homier tales, full of Gabaldon's distinctive humor, astounding historical detail, and—of course—just a little bit of deviant sexuality. The most fulfilling development may be the demise of the Wuthering Heights problem, where you never care quite as much about the second generation as you did about the first. Brianna and Roger's marriage, while never as breathtakingly passionate as Claire and Jamie's, achieves a solidity that will allow them to make several crucial decisions. No spoilers, but a new calling, a shocking turn during an execution and a terrible choice are all in store.
I, for one, will be holding my breath for the next book. I hope that Lord John and his mysteries can wait for the answer to the ultimate question: what about that ghost outside Claire and Frank's guest house in Inverness in 1945?
Mary Neal Meador is an editorial designer who lives in Chicago.
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