Review: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Paperback, 850 pages
Published June 1991 by Dell Publishing
Dates Read: Jan. 31 - April 3, 2016

Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is reunited with her husband, Frank, in 1945 at the end of WWII after several years apart. They're on their second honeymoon in the British Isles, when she walks through an ancient stone hedge and is suddenly transported to Scotland, circa 1743.

She is thrust into navigating an unfamiliar time and place torn by war and rivaling border clans. She has no idea how this happened or why, or where Frank is, or if he even knows what's happened to her, but she's determined to figure out the answers and return to 1945. Soon enough though, she encounters fighting clansmen who capture her and think she's a spy working for the British. One of the men is injured - meet Jamie Fraser, a stubborn yet charismatic hunk of a Scottish man. While Claire nurses his injuries, they develop a friendship and eventual romance. This adds complicated layers to Claire's feelings, and her plans to return home.

Gabaldon knocked her debut "let's give book writing a try" novel out of the park. A book that started out as a practice piece turned into a well-written, well-researched, and extremely detailed historical fiction piece of work that is difficult for me to sum up in one sentence. It's the first of a nine-book (for now) series, eight of which are already published, and has since been turned into a t.v. series on the network Starz.

The only reason I am giving this a 4 out of 5 rating is because there are many details that could have easily been left out to make this a much shorter, several hundred pages shorter, still amazing novel. It has everything else a historical fiction lover could want from the time travel to a distant, far away, long ago picturesque setting to the dreamy, romantic true love many people live their whole lives without finding.

I highly recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in historical fiction - just don't read it in February for a book club discussion. As grateful as I am that my book club decided to read this book, I am not grateful that it was for the shortest month of the year in 2016. February. I struggle to finish the shortest book on time, let alone the longest for the shortest month! Ugh. That said, it's one of my favorite books ever and definitely a favorite book club read - loved even more by the story continuing through (almost) 8 more books in the series!

To learn more about Diana Gabaldon and the Outlander series, visit her website at http://www.dianagabaldon.com/.