Outlander:Outlander, published in 1991, is the 1st book in the series. (Published as Cross Stitch in the UK.) This book introduces the main characters of Claire Beauchamp Fraser and Jaime Fraser, and is set in 18th century and 20th century Scotland.

OUTLANDER (published in the UK under the title CROSS STITCH) is the first novel in the Outlander series.  Frankly, I’ve never been able to describe this book in twenty-five words or less, and neither has anyone else in the twenty years since it was first published.  I’ve seen it (and the rest of the series) sold–with evident success–as <deep breath>  Literature, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical NON-fiction (really.  Well, they are very accurate), Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Military History (no, honest), Gay and Lesbian Fiction, and…Horror.  (Really!  One of my books beat both George R.R. Martin and Stephen King for a Quill Award in 2006.)  Anyway, the only way I’ve ever found of describing this book to anyone is to begin telling them the story.  So here goes….

In 1946, after WWII, a young Englishwoman named Claire Beauchamp Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband, Frank.   She’s an ex-combat nurse, he’s been in the army as well, they’ve been separated for the last six years, and this is a second honeymoon; they’re getting re-acquainted with each other, thinking of starting a family.  But one day Claire goes out walking by herself, and comes across a circle of standing stones–such circles are in fact common all over northern Britain.  She walks through a cleft stone in the circle….and disappears.  Back into 1743, where the first person she meets is a gentleman in an 18th-century army officer’s uniform.  This gentleman, Jack Randall, looks just like her husband Frank–and proves to be Frank’s six-times-great-grandfather.  Unfortunately, he also proves to be a sadistic bisexual pervert, and while trying to escape from him, Claire falls into the hands of a gang of Highland Scots, who are also trying to get away from Black Jack Randall–though for other reasons.

In order to avoid being handed over to Captain Randall, Claire is obliged to marry one of the young clansmen.  So she finds herself trying to escape from Castle Leoch and her Scottish captors, trying to get back to her husband Frank, trying to avoid being recaptured by Captain Randall–and falling in love with Jamie Fraser, the young man she’s been forced to marry.   The story rolls on from there…

What I used to say to people who saw me sitting outside a store with a pile of books and asked (reasonably enough), “What sort of book is this?”, was, “I tell you what.   Pick it up, open it anywhere, and read

three pages.  If you can put it down again, I’ll pay you a dollar.”   I’ve never lost any money on that bet.

PLOT SUMMARY

Claire Randall is a practical woman, a nurse in the British Army during World War II. She and her husband, Frank, who were separated during the war, have recently reunited and are enjoying a second honeymoon in Inverness, Scotland. They married there and Frank combined their holiday with some research into his family tree, investigating an ancestor named "Black Jack" Randall, who was a Captain in the Army in the 18th century.

While on the honeymoon, Claire goes plant-gathering with an amateur botanist while her husband meets with another historian. He shows her a group of standing stones on the hill of Craigh na Dun. Claire tells Frank and they go to see it after seeing Loch Ness. Frank tells her that a group of local women will be enacting a pagan ritual and that the local vicar's housekeeper is one of them. As a history professor, Frank is fascinated; Claire, a budding botanist, is particularly captivated by the flowers and herbs she finds, although the unusual ritual is of interest to her. Returning the next day for a particular plant that interests her, Claire realizes she can hear a buzzing noise from the stones and investigates. The buzzing gets louder as she approaches but makes her disoriented and she blacks out, waking to the sound of battle in the distance. Assuming it is a re-enactment or a movie set, she takes a detour through woods suddenly thicker and younger than they were. Struggling to make sense of her surroundings, she bumps into Captain "Black Jack" Randall, who is, incidentally, Frank's six times great-grandfather and body double, physically. Unfortunately for Claire, Randall has earned the "Black" in spades and detains her, asking why she is travelling alone in a "state of undress" and concludes that she is a prostitute. She is saved by an unknown Scotsman who knocks Randall unconscious and takes her with him when he rejoins his party who have been rustling cattle. Still befuddled, Claire doesn't understand the situation, and further puzzled by the reactions to her dress, which everyone calls a "shift," and that her legs are bare.

At this point she meets members of the Clan McKenzie, and our Hero, Jamie, who she treats for a dislocated shoulder. She is then forced to travel with them through the Scottish countryside, where Claire sees the lack of modern technology and roadways. She begins wondering exactly what has happened as the "costumes" and weapons are very realistic.

Claire rides with one of the younger Scots, Jamie. Jamie's shoulder had been dislocated during the fight with the English under "Black Jack's" command. Claire reduced the dislocation (using her 20th century medical knowledge) upon seeing his companions about to force the shoulder back into place, an action that would have crippled him.

The Scots return to their home, Castle Leoch, seat of the Clan MacKenzie. When questioned by the laird, Colum mac Campbell MacKenzie, Claire claims she was sailing to France to visit relatives and lost her gown, luggage, and servant when they were attacked. The Scots are suspicious, wondering exactly who she is. Unfortunately nothing can be proved and after seeing a letter Colum is writing, she realises when she is for the first time: 1743. The Scots see Claire as a "Sassenach" -- an outsider to Scottish Highland culture and an Englishwoman to boot—though she earns their respect, due to her work as a healer. Wanting to learn more of Claire, Dougal takes both her and Jamie, on the yearly rent collection on the lands of the MacKenizie.

Jack Randall wishes to talk again to Claire and seeks her out. After an argument ensued by Dougal and Jack, over Jack's mistreatment of Claire, Dougal refuses, on Jack's further request, to let Claire be questioned. He is informed by Ned Gowan, the clan's lawyer, that the only solution is to make her a Scotswoman by marriage. Dougal tells her to wed Jamie, but suggests other men when she refuses. Claire tells Dougal she can't marry anyone, but admits she isn't married. (In 1743, she thinks, after all, she isn't yet even born!) Dougal ignores her. She gives in and marries Jamie in the same church—much to her horror—where she married Frank. By now, Claire—impressed that Jamie insisted on finding her a decent gown to marry in and demanded a private room in which to consummate their marriage—has grown fonder of Jamie and the friendship she feels towards him, therefore makes her feel guilty that she must deceive him, through her plans to get back to Frank.

Claire's healing skills as a 20th century nurse save Jamie repeatedly but as the story progresses, she is determined to return to the stone circle and Frank, knowing he must be worried sick. As life continues at Castle Leoch, Claire's marriage to Jamie, ignorance of local superstition, and jealousy towards her lead to a charge of witchcraft. Thrown into a hole with another accused witch, Geilie Duncan, to await trial, she is rescued by Jamie. Just before her escape, she realizes that Geilie Duncan is from the future too. When Jamie asks her to explain, she initially tells him she can't as he won't believe her, saying it's easier to call her a witch.

Shocked by Claire's explanation, he takes her to the stone circle and tells her to return to Frank - seeing for himself, that Claire is telling the truth about the stones. Jamie leaves her there to decide if she wants to return to Frank or stay with him. He is over the moon with her decision to stay and he takes her to his home, Lallybroch, but their happiness doesn't last.

Jamie has a price on his head and is betrayed by Ronald McNab, one of his tenants. Angry that Jamie, after being told by Claire and Grannie McNab of Ronald's abuse of the child, insists Rabbie become a stable-boy at Lallybroch. Jamie is held at Wentworth Prison and sentenced to hang. Sadistic Jack Randall is also at Wentworth and takes the opportunity to torture Jamie. Jamie, however, promises Jack that he'll sleep with him if he lets Claire go. Jack agrees and in revenge, Claire tells Jack she is a witch, cursing him with the "gift" of knowledge that he will marry and have a son but will die before the child's born, giving him the date of his death.

Aided by Sir Marcus MacRannoch, a former suitor of Jamie's mother, Ellen MacKenzie Fraser, Claire, Jamie's relatives and men employed by Sir Marcus, rescue Jamie. She patches him up and they escape to Ste. Anne de Beaupre's monastery in France, where Jamie's uncle is stationed as Abbot. At Ste. Anne's, Claire tries healing Jamie, but discovers broken bones are simple, compared to repairing the damage done to his mind. As he recovers, Jamie tells Claire that his life is hers, that she should decide, will they go "to France, Italy, or even back to Scotland?" for "[they'll] need a place to go, soon."

Whilst at the abbey, Claire learns more about her faith - she was christened Catholic but not raised as one - and receives absolution from a friendly monk. He describes her as a shipwrecked traveller, forced to survive in a strange land as best she can. He describes her marriages as something she should leave in God's hands as nothing can be done about them. At the last, as she and Jaime emerge from the healing waters of a sacred hot spring under the Abbey, Claire reveals that she is pregnant with their first child.

Characters in "Outlander"

Main Characters

Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser: The story's protagonist, a nurse in WWII who finds herself in the Scottish Highlands circa the mid-18th century. In the 20th century, she was married to Frank Randall, but in the 18th century, she marries Jamie Fraser. Claire is a gifted natural physician, and her personality is warm, practical, and independent.

James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser (Jamie) : Claire's husband in the 18th century. A strapping young Scottish redhead with a complicated past and a disarming sense of humor. Jamie is intelligent, principled, and by 18th century standards, educated and worldly. In The Outlandish Companion Gabaldon says he is partly based on the character of Jamie McCrimmon from Doctor Who.

Frank Randall: Claire's husband in the 20th Century. A history professor with a deep interest in his genealogy and heritage, who had worked for MI-6 during WW II.

Jonathan Randall: The primary villain of the story. He is Frank's ancestor and a British army officer. He is also known as "Black Jack." According to Jamie Fraser, the black refers to the colour of his soul. He was born Sept. 3, 1705, and Claire, being from the future, knows that he will die April 16, 1746 at Culloden.

Colum MacKenzie: The Laird of the MacKenzie clan. He is also Jamie's maternal uncle, and he shelters Jamie and Claire from the English threat. He suffers from Toulouse-Lautrec Syndrome

Dougal MacKenzie: Colum's brother, who serves as the literal and figurative "body" of the pair, since Colum's health meant he is unable to lead the clan into battle. A Jacobite; biological father of Colum's son, Hamish; took Jamie on as a foster son for a year as a teen; has four daughters. He also fathered another son with Geillis Duncan.

Geillis/Geilie Duncan: Wife of the procurator fiscal; a time-traveler from the 1960s; who believes that she is a witch, and acts like one; has knowledge of herbs and plants. Becomes pregnant with Dougal MacKenzie's child, which she is pregnant with when thrown into the hole as a witch—her pregnancy wins her a brief reprieve on her death sentence; and the murderer of her husband, Arthur Duncan.

Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser: Loyal member of Clan MacKenzie/Fraser; sworn to protect Jamie since he was a baby

Other Characters by time

Inverness 1945

Mrs. Baird: Proprietor of an Inverness Bed & Breakfast where Claire and Frank have a second honeymoon following WWII, a bit nosy

Rev. Dr. Reginald Wakefield: Vicar of the parish, amateur historian and genealogist; consultant to Frank; adoptive father to Roger

Roger MacKenzie Wakefield: The adoptive son of Rev. Wakefield, approximately 5 years old (and who will become a primary character from Book 2 onwards)

Quentin Lambert Beauchamp (deceased): Claire's "Uncle Lamb," an archeologist that raised Claire in various locations around the world

Mr. Crook: An elderly man who first shows Claire the stone circle of Craigh Na Dun

Ghost: A highlander ghost, presumably Jamie, who encounters Frank days before Claire goes through the stones.

Mrs. Graham: Reverend Wakefield's housekeeper; a Druid who predicts Claire's "love of two men"

Scotland 1743

Prince Charles Edward: "Bonnie Prince Charlie", the Stuart Pretender, first mentioned when we learn Dougal is a Jacobite

King James: Exiled Scottish monarch whose court is in Rome; Charles is his heir

King George II: English monarch (House of Hanover)

Rupert MacKenzie: Loyal member of Clan MacKenzie; Jamie's second cousin; Claire has to choose between marrying Rupert and Jamie.

Castle Leoch

Letitia MacKenzie: Wife of Colum; mother of Hamish by Dougal

Alec McMahon MacKenzie (Auld Alec): Master of Horse of Castle Leoch; wears a patch over his missing eye

Laoghaire MacKenzie: Young girl of 16 with her eye on Jamie, Claire jealous of this - said "leary".

Angus Mhor: Beats Jamie (when he takes Laoghaire's punishment); helps Colum with pain by giving him massage

Davie Beaton: (deceased) Healer of Leoch, member of Clan Beaton, although not a particularly good one; Claire takes over his surgery

Brian Fraser (Black Brian): (deceased) father of Jamie, Jenny, and Willie, husband of Ellen MacKenzie; bastard son of Lord Lovat and a serving girl

Hamish MacKenzie: Son and heir of Colum, although sired by Dougal, son of Letitia MacKenzie

Gwyllyn: Welsh bard, entertainer/singer of Castle Leoch

Arthur Duncan: Husband of Geillis, the procurator fiscal of the village of Cranesmuir

Father Bain: Priest of Cranesmuir, accuses Claire of witchcraft

The tanner's lad: Boy whose ear is nailed to the pillory as punishment

Ned Gowan: Lawyer from Edinburgh, works for Colum. Claire's lawyer at her trial for witchcraft.

Encountered on the road

Horrocks: English deserter who knows that Jamie did not shoot the Sergeant-Major

Hugh Munro: Licensed beggar (due to torture at the hands of the Turks); able messenger; Jamie's friend

Malcolm Grant: Conducts a raid on the MacKenzies along with his two sons

Peter: Drover; sees Claire with a Waterhorse; testifies against her at her witch trial

Waterhorse: the Loch Ness monster; Claire feels a connection with it

Harry: Redcoat deserter who threatens Claire and Jamie while they make love in a (not so) deserted glade. He tries to rape Claire, but is killed by Claire.

Alexander William Roderick MacGregor: (deceased) Prisoner who hanged himself at Fort William (after being raped by Randall). Jamie has a Bible belonging to him. Jamie feels he owes Alexander a debt.

Return to Castle Leoch and Cranesmuir

Malcolm Grant: Once to marry Ellen MacKenzie by suit (arranged marriage), but the arrangement didn't work out, no longer a MacKenzie ally.

The Duke of Sandringham: "old Willie the arse bandit", has a secret connection to Jack Randall; his connection with the Jacobite cause is never discovered, though it would seem he is a secret Jacobite

Janet Robinson: Had an abortion by using a potion Geillis concocted; testifies against Geillis

Lallybroch

Jock Graham: from Murch Nardagh; first person to welcome Claire and Jamie back to Lallybroch

Janet Fraser Murray (Jenny): Jamie's older sister; married to Ian Murray

Ian Murray: Jenny's husband; Jamie's friend since childhood; Lost the lower part of his right leg, below the knee, after an infection of a grape shot wound received during a battle at Daumier (with Fergus nic Leodhas)

Young Jamie: Jenny and Ian's oldest son; named for his uncle; born August 1741

Mrs. Crook: Housekeeper at Lallybroch

Willie Fraser: (deceased) Jamie's older brother who died of smallpox at age eleven

Grannie MacNab: Aids Claire and (particularly) Jamie when Redcoats stop by Lallybroch; mother of four sons and sixteen grandchildren

Rabbie MacNab: Grandson of Grannie MacNab; Beaten by his father

Ronald MacNab: Father of Rabbie, often drunk and beats his son; reluctant to give him over to Jamie as a stable lad; later betrays Jamie to the Watch and is killed in a fire of retribution by the other tenants of Lallybroch

Mrs. Martins: Midwife; helps deliver Jenny's baby

Margaret Ellen Murray (Maggie): Born November 1743 to Jenny and Ian

The Search for Jamie

Robert MacDonald: Member of the Watch whom Jenny and Claire attack and then use to get information about Jamie after he is taken by the Watch

Sir Fletcher Gordon: Civilian governor in charge of Wentworth Prison

Marley: an orderly in Wentworth, a big, disgusting, slow-witted man ("even the whores won't have him") that Randall has with him when he confronts Claire in the cell where Jamie is being held

Hector: Finds Claire in Eldridge Wood near Wentworth after her wolf attack and brings her to MacRannoch

Sir Marcus MacRannoch: Claire is brought to his cottage; his cattle are later used to help break Jamie out of Wentworth; Jamie is also given refuge at his home, Eldridge Manor; once an admirer of Ellen MacKenzie

Lady Annabelle MacRannoch: Wife of Marcus, helps Claire tend Jamie's wounds

A soldier near Wentworth: Claire must kill him in order to ensure their escape from the area

The Abbey of Ste. Anne de Beaupre

Abbot Alexander Fraser: Jamie's uncle (one of six Fraser uncles)

Brother Ambrose: Tends Jamie's wounds

Brother Bartolome: Monks who observe the Perpetual Adoration

Francois Anselm Mericoeur d'Armagnac (Father Anselm): Befriends Claire; Introduces Claire to the Perpetual Adoration; Tries to catechize Claire; She is later able to tell him her (true) story; Franciscan; Uses lavender near Jamie (does not know of its significance)

OUTLANDER THE MUSICAL

On 1 August 2010, a CD song cycle telling the story of this first book in the series was released under the title "Outlander The Musical". The 14 songs were written by Kevin Walsh (music) and Mike Gibb (lyrics) with the words for one of the tracks being provided by authoress Diana

Gabaldon. The CD has been highly successful, especially in America, Canada and Germany, and a libretto for a full scale stage musical is currently under consideration by a number of theatre. There is a website at www.outlanderthemusical.com The writing team of Walsh and Gibb earlier produced the work "Clarinda the Musical" (www.clarindathemusical.com) while playwright Mike Gibb has produced a string of plays and musical plays on Scottish themes (www.hamepages.com)

Personal

Legal name: Diana Gabaldon Birthdate: January 11, 1952 (age 59) Birthplace: Flagstaff,Arizona,United States Nationality: American Gender: Female Official Website: http://www.dianagabaldon.com/ Genres: Fiction, Time Travel, Speculative Fiction, Historical

Fiction, Mystery, Adventure

Unbound

This content section has been deprecated.Please help us clean up the page by moving the content from this section into other relevant sections. Once it has been emptied this section will no longer appear on the page but the edit history will still be available in the page's history.

Diana Jean Gabaldon born on January 11, 1952 in Arizona, (U.S.A.). Her father was from New Mexico and her mother's family from Yorkshire (England); her great-grandfather immigrated to Arizona from England in the 1860s.

Gabaldon grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona. She has received three degrees from two different institutions: B.S. in Zoology from Northern Arizona University, 1970-1973; M.S. in Marine Biology from the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1973-1975. Her research topic was, "Agonistic Interactions of Hermit Crabs." and Ph.D in Ecology from Northern Arizona University, 1975-1978. Dissertation: "Nest Site Selection in Pinyon Jays, Gymnorhynchus cyanocephalus)." She has also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Northern Arizona University, in 2007. In addition, Gabaldon Hall, a dormitory on the

campus of Northern Arizona University, is named after her father, Tony Gabaldon. Gabaldon currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband, Doug Watkins; they have three adult children.

Gabaldon's first fiction efforts were posted on the CompuServe literary forum, a hangout for people who like books (the forum is still extant, but now called The Compuserve Books and Writers Community www.community.compuserve.com/Books. She was an active member of this book-discussion community, and posted parts of her unfinished novel, Outlander, to strengthen her points in an argument with another poster regarding what it feels like to be pregnant. One of the people who read her post was a science fiction writer. He was impressed, and introduced her to his agent.<1> The agent, Perry Knowlton, took her on, on the basis of an unfinished first novel. When it was finished, he sent it to five editors, and within four days, three of them had made offers on it. There are presently seven novels in the main OUTLANDER series, including AN ECHO IN THE BONE, released on Sept. 22, 2009. The stories center around a time-travelling 20th-century English nurse (Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser) and her 18th-century Scottish husband (James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser), and are located in Scotland, France, the West Indies, England, and America. The Lord John Series is a spin-off from the Outlander books, as it centers on a secondary character from the original series, but is also part of the main series.

Note: Diana did not take her husband's name after they married, "My husband was mildly put out that I refused to take his name when we got married. I told him, though, that I'd been spelling "Gabaldon" for people for twenty-five years, and I was attached to it."

Awards:* July, 1992 Diana Gabaldon received the RITA Award given by the Romance Writers of America in the category Best Book of 1991 for the novel Outlander.<2>* September 24, 2006 Diana Gabaldon received the International Corine Book Award 2006 in the category Weltbild Readers Award, which was determined by a public vote on the web page of the German publisher.* October 10, 2006 Diana Gabaldon received the Quill Book Award in 2006 in the category Science Fiction / Fantasy / Horror, which was determined by a public vote on the Internet. In order to receive the nomination the author was required to meet one of several possible criteria, such as an appearance on the best seller list of Borders Group Inc., or a starred review in Publishers Weekly