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Synopsis:

With the American rebellion growing in intensity all around them, Jamie and Claire know they must navigate a difficult course to survive. For not only is being on the winning side no guarantee of safety; Jamie would also rather die than face his illegitimate son, William, a young lieutenant in the British Army, across the barrel of a gun - even as the chances of war conspire to bring them together.


Making their way back to Lallybroch with Jamie's nephew, Young Ian, to fulfil a family promise, might seem one way of thwarting fate. But in the chaos of war every avenue of escape is bristling with danger, and even the time-travelling Claire cannot foresee the tragedy that could tear her and Jamie apart forever.


Meanwhile, in the apparent safety of the 20th Century, their daughter Brianna and her husband Roger read Jamie and Claire's letters, breathlessly watching the unfolding of Brianna's parents' story - even as the past is sneaking up behind their own family to threaten them in the present.



This is the Seventh book in the series. I bought this book in January, and I have been steadily working my way through the series reminding myself of the story so far. The list of the books in chronological order are as follows -

• Outlander (American title) / Cross Stitch (British title)
• Dragonfly In Amber
• Voyager
• Drums Of Autumn
• The Fiery Cross
• A Breath Of Snow And Ashes

I have found that it is always better to read the first book in these sort of series and read them in chronological order, otherwise it spoils the adventure. Nowadays, some authors tend to write their story over a series of books, rather than in one self contained novel. The trouble is, if you like the story in one book, you want to read more adventures about the characters in that book!

The reason I am making this point is that the critics gave a poor review of "An Echo In The Bone" on the grounds that it was not a self contained novel, rather a continuation of the story told in the previous 6 books! That is exactly what this book was meant to be!

I always think of critics as frustrated artists, who do not have the inspiration or ability to produce something original themselves. Instead they can only write derogatory remarks in the hope that the more vicious the report, the more publicity they will receive, and thus give them the impression of increasing their own self importance.