The Quill #5: Recommended Reads #2

It is a truth universally acknowledged that people are just better in books (not you, though — I’m sure you’re great). They share everything that’s important about themselves, they don’t judge you, and they’re always there when you need them. So, my go-to comfort reads are always defined by their characters. Outlander is a perfect example of this. While any number of interesting and surprising events occur in this book, the feeling I’m left with is that of having taken a long walk with good friends — complete with wry humor and family bickering. The length of the book gives each character an opportunity to be developed and come to life, at least to me.Outlander begins in 1945, as Claire Randall goes on a second honeymoon with her husband, Frank. They were separated during the war, with Claire going to the front as a combat nurse while Frank stayed in London to work in intelligence. They hope to reacquaint themselves with one another, taking a trip to Scotland to give themselves time to reconnect. Their trip goes awry when a morning outing to a circle of standing stones leads to Claire being pulled into the past through a portal.

Waking up in 1743, she immediately has a very unpleasant encounter with an English army captain — who (for some reason) looks quite like her husband. She is saved by a laconic man in a kilt. The man knocks her unconscious and takes her back to the group he is traveling with. They bring her to their laird’s castle, where she finds relative safety, and an ally in James Fraser, the laird’s nephew. She comes to trust him implicitly, despite the bounty on his head. All she wants is to go home to her husband, however, and she’s not allowed to leave. Even if she finds a way to escape, can she make the stones take her home? Or will she find out that she is, after all, exactly where she wants to be?

The Outlander books cover many of the same events as the Starz show does. That said, they are much less s graphic (the same violent or traumatic events happen, but the details included in the books are less upsetting than seeing these things in the show, for me). The books are also just generally funnier. Even if you’ve watched the show, the books are still worth reading just for the extra details and time with the characters.