This week I’m discussing Part 4 of Outlander: “A Whiff of Brimstone” where the ever-growing plot thickens. The Duke of Sandringham has arrived. Claire is still avoiding a decision between Frank and Jamie. Dougal has done something stupid…again, and Geillis is busy being Geillis, but do you smell that? I think someone decided to throw gasoline on the fire… Buckle up, Buttercups. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride!
Chapter 24 – By the Pricking of My Thumbs
Jamie and Claire have finally come out on the other side of their argumentative stint, and are back to that newly wedded… well, I wouldn’t quite call it bliss. There are a lot of great scenes in Chapter 24, and it all starts with a particularly touching/frustrating scene between our favorite couple. Dougal’s wife of 24 years has passed away, and this spurs a meaningful discussion about the nature of arranged marriages. Dougal and his wife Maura got along well enough, but as the years passed, they each took on their own roles: Maura raising the children and taking care of the estate, and Dougal spending a large amount of his time at Colum’s side fulfilling his role as War Chief and Right Hand Man.
Jamie wants his marriage to Claire to eventually evolve into more than a marriage of convenience. He grew up in a household where his parents loved one another, and desires that himself. Claire on the other hand realizes she’s leading her new husband on and is desperate to find a way out of her feelings. She is falling in love with this young Scotsman, and it is tearing her apart. She’s tried for so long to avoid the very situation she is in, but things are rapidly coming to a head. Soon she will have to turn and face the consequences. I feel like the “situation” is a constant thorn in Claire’s side at this point. As readers, we are literally reading about it every other page, and a growing majority of my brain is just thinking: “Shit or get off the pot, Lady. I need you to make a decision like… yesterday!” I think she is leaning toward Jamie at this point, but doesn’t want to admit it, and that’s what’s causing the problem, but I suppose the only person that has the answer to that question is Diana Gabaldon!
Further evidence of Jamie’s feelings on the situation can be seen in the scene with Hamish in the stables. Married life has suited Jamie just fine. He has a soft, good smelling, woman to sleep next to every night, and according to young Hamish, those are the important things… This kid is so adorable! We really get to see Jamie’s patience and kindness shine through in this moment–particularly when Jamie is explaining to his young cousin why it’s not a good idea to ride Donas. He doesn’t belittle the boy, or make him feel stupid. He treats him like an adult and lays out the situation with reason. Jamie is great with kids, and this is something we witness repeatedly over the course of the series, but I think, particularly in moments like this, it’s easy to see what a good father he would make!

EXCERPT #1:
“Do ye mind being married,” he said, staring at his cousin. “Getting into bed every night with a lady, I mean.”
“No,” said Jamie. “No, in fact, it’s verra pleasant.”
Hamish looked doubtful.
“I dinna think I should like it much. But then all the girls I know are skinny as sticks, and they smell o’ barley water. The lady Claire–your lady, I mean,” he added hastily, as though wishing to avoid confusion, “she’s, er, she looks as though she’d be nicer to sleep with. Soft, I mean.”
Jamie nodded, “Aye, that’s true. Smells all right, too” he offered. Even in the dim light, I could see a small muscle twitching near the corner of his mouth, and knew he didn’t dare look up in the direction of the loft.
There was a long pause.
“How d’ye know?” Hamish said.
“Know what?”
“Which is the right lady to get married to,” the boy said impatiently.
“Oh.” Jamie rocked back and settled himself against the stone wall, hands behind his head.
“I asked my own Da that, once,” he said. “He said ye just ken. And if ye dinna ken, then she’s no the right lassie.”
[Excerpt from OUTLANDER, Copyright 1991 Diana Gabaldon]
Right on the heels of Jamie explaining why Hamish can’t ride Donas, what does Jamie decide to do? Ride Donas. Three guesses on how that turned out… You know what, I’ll just save you the time. Jamie ends up in Claire’s surgery with a banged up foot–and damn lucky he was to just get a sprained ankle out of the mess. But the crown jewel of this little mishap, is Old Alec… By this point in the story, it is pretty obvious that Jamie and Claire have a fiery chemistry, and that they crave each other, but leave it to Old Alec to point it out!

EXCERPT #2:
“The de’il’s customarily a black stallion, though, is he no?”
“Oh, aye,” said Alec. “A great black stallion, that travels as fast as the thought between a man and a maid.”
He grinned genially at Jamie and rose to go.
“And speakin’ of that,” he said, with a wink at me, “I’ll no expect ye in the stables tomorrow. Keep to your bed, laddie, and, er…rest.”
“Why is it,” I demanded, looking after the crusty old horsemaster, “that everyone seems to assume we’ve no more on our minds than to get into bed with each other?”
Jamie tried his weight on the foot again, bracing himself on the counter.
“For one thing, we’ve been married less than a month,” he observed. “For another–” He looked up and grinned, shaking his head. “I’ve told ye before, Sassenach. Everything ye think shows on your face.”
“Bloody hell,” I said.
[Excerpt from OUTLANDER, Copyright 1991 Diana Gabaldon]
Can I just take a moment to express my love for Old Alec’s character? I was really bummed when they cut the majority of his role from the show. I realize they had to cut things for time’s sake, but Alec has known Jamie since he was a young lad, and better still, he knew Jamie’s parents. Because of that acquaintance we get a lot of background information which is only hinted at in the show–mainly the whole story of Brian and Ellen’s elopement, and what that says about some of our main characters.
Jacob MacKenzie, Jamie’s grandfather, had five children — Ellen, Colum, Dougal, Janet, and Jocasta. Ellen, Jamie’s mother, was his favorite child, and despite the fact that she was his eldest daughter, he never forced her into an arranged marriage despite the expectation of the time. When he died, Colum took over the clan, and he had no such consideration for his elder sister’s happiness. He held the clan’s strength and stability in higher regard than his sisters’ marital bliss and promptly began arranging marriage between Ellen, Jocasta, Malcolm Grant, and John Cameron. Both of the men in this situation were young clan chieftains themselves and marriages between the Camerons, Grants, and MacKenzies were a great way, in Colum’s mind, to secure power during the formative years of his tenure as laird.
Ellen, not one for being told what to do, had her own plans, and during the night of The Gathering celebrating Colum’s installment as Chief, Ellen spurned Malcolm Grant and took off for the border with none other than Brian Fraser. Of course, none of this came to light until days later after the entire clan had searched high and low for Miss MacKenzie, and Dougal nearly killed Malcolm Grant, assuming Malcolm had absconded with Ellen and planned to force her into marriage by taking her virginity. Now Dougal, didn’t anyone tell you what assuming does?? In the end, Dougal didn’t find Ellen until 5 months later, hiding in the Highlands with Brian, and undeniably prego.
With little choice in the matter, both Frasers and MacKenzies consented to Brian and Ellen’s union, and as they say, the rest is history. We never meet Ellen MacKenzie Fraser, but I’m looking forward to the day when we get the Prequel with Brian and Ellen’s story, because I have a feeling, I’m going to like this fiery MacKenzie woman.
After hearing the story of how Dougal ran off in pursuit of Malcolm Grant and beat him to a bloody pulp without bothering to ask if his sister was with him, it not hard to believe that Dougal has once again done something stupid when Claire overhears a argument between Colum and his younger brother. What is a surprise, is the revelation we get once Dougal leaves! Young Hamish, riding on his new horse Cobhar misses his jump and promptly falls to the ground along with the horse. Colum and Claire watch first with alarm and then relief as Hamish gets up, seemingly unharmed. Colum, having suffered a similar accident that resulted in the crippling of his legs is fearful for his son, and ends up admitting to Claire, by omission, that Hamish is not his son.
I was shocked Colum admitted Hamish’s parentage so openly. Perhaps he recognizes at this point that he can trust Claire? Or maybe he thinks she has medical knowledge that allows her to know the truth of his condition and doesn’t see the point in hiding it… Either way, the truth is finally out there.

EXCERPT #3:
“Sandringham? Ah, old Willie the arse-bandit,” said Ned, meditatively.
“What?!” said one of the younger men-at-arms, choking on his ale.
“Our revered duke has something of a taste for boys, or so I understand,” Ned explained.
“Mmm,” agreed Rupert, his mouth full. Swallowing, he added, “Had a wee bit of a taste for young Jamie here, last time he visited these parts, if I remember rightly. That were when, Dougal? Thirty-eight? Thirty-nine?”
“Thirty-seven,” Dougal answered from the next table. He narrowed his eyes at his nephew. “Ye were rather a pretty lad at sixteen, Jamie.”
Jamie nodded, chewing. “Aye. Fast, too.”
When the laughter died down, Dougal began to tease Jamie.
“I didna ken ye were a favorite, Jamie, lad. There’s several about the Duke as ha’ traded a sore arse for lands and offices.”
“Ye’ll notice I havena got either one,” responded Jamie with a grin, to further roars of laughter.
[Excerpt from OUTLANDER, Copyright 1991 Diana Gabaldon]
The Duke of Sandringham. Need I say more? In the television show, Sandringham, played by Simon Callow, is a flamboyant and pompous jackass, but in the books, he is far more than that. In fact, he is known across the entire MacKenzie clan as an entitled homosexual who goes to just about any lengths to sexually take advantage of teenage boys. The shocking part of this situation for me lies in how much everyone takes this in stride. There are no appalled shouts, no disgusted noises. It’s all raucous laughter and ribald remarks from Jamie’s audience. It kind of sickens me that Jamie was almost raped two to three times by this disgusting creature, and no one seems to take issue with it! More to the point, Jamie himself didn’t even seem to take issue with it! This entire storyline in the books is one I can’t get my head around; rape was such a common place occurrence in this world that it was used as the punchline in a joke more than anything else.
Outlander is full of Scottish folklore and legends. It’s actually one of the things I love most about the series, and this chapter is no exception. Viewed from the outside, it’s easy to see how the myth of the faerie changeling got its start. In truth, it’s a simple way for parents to explain away the painful experience of losing a child. The story goes that a sickly child, failing to thrive, is really a faerie child or “changeling” that has been swapped for a healthy human baby, and if you leave the changeling on a faerie hill overnight, the faeries will come to take back the changeling and leave the healthy human baby in its place. Of course, more often than not, the infant left out in the elements all night long would not survive to morning, and people simply chose to believe the child was not their baby, but the changeling, and that the stolen babe would be “healthy and well, living forever with the faeries”.
Of course, Claire, being a typical 20th-century, modern woman calls poppy-cock on that, and goes to save the baby that has been left to the elements by its parents. Unfortunately, she gets lost on the way up the hill, and Jamie finds the child first — it has already succumbed to the elements, much to the chagrin of it’s rescuer. But perhaps, this was a blessing in disguise, as interfering with the child in any way could be misconstrued as a malevolent act, attempting to keep the parents from reuniting with their “true” child.
Speaking of supernatural entities within the realm of Outlander, let’s take a moment to talk about some witchy-woo-woo from our very own Geilis Duncan. Under the guise of helping Claire find out who left the ill wish for her and Jamie, Geilis puts Claire in a trance and attempts to milk the details of Claire’s presence in Scotland from her. I think readers have known from day one that Geilis was a strange cat, but this really set my teeth on edge. Claire, remembering clearly what Geilis was trying to achieve, wonders if the point of the whole charade was for Colum to finally get his answers regarding his new niece. If only it were that simple, folks…

EXCERPT #4:
The realization of Jamie’s imminent departure was deeply depressing; I suddenly realized just how much I looked forward to seeing him at dinner after the day’s work, how my heart would leap when I saw him unexpectedly at odd moments during the day, and how much I depended on his company and his solid, reassuring presence amid the complexities of life in the castle. And, to be perfectly honest, how much I liked the smooth, warm strength of him in my bed each night, and waking to his tousled, smiling kisses in the mornings. The prospect of his absence was bleak.
He held me closely, my head snuggled under his chin.
“I’ll miss you, Jamie,” I said softly.
He hugged me tighter, and gave me a rueful chuckle.
“So will I, Sassenach. I hadna expected it, to tell the truth–but it will hurt me to leave ye.” He stroked my back gently, fingers tracing the bumps of the vertebrae.
“Jamie…you’ll be careful?”
“Of the Duke or the horse?” He was, much to my apprehension, intending to ride Donas on the stag hunt. I had visions of the huge sorrel beast plunging over a cliff out of sheer wrong-headedness, or trampling Jamie under those lethal hooves.
“Both,” I said dryly. “If the horse throws you and you break a leg, you’ll be at the Duke’s mercy.”
[Excerpt from OUTLANDER, Copyright 1991 Diana Gabaldon]
In the hopes of securing Jamie a pardon and getting Dougal the heck out of Dodge, Colum has arranged for his nephew and brother to take the Duke of Sandringham on a stag hunt. Conveniently, this clears Jamie out of the way for the events that are about to unfold (i.e. Claire’s arrest and subsequent witch trial), but it also give our two main characters a chance to admit how fond they have grown of each other. In a surprising turn of events, they realize that they will actually miss one another. Claire in particular is not only going to miss Jamie’s company, but also yearn for his presence both by her side and in her bed… can’t say I blame her there… *wink, wink.
In parting, Jamie asks Claire one favor, stay safe, and stay away from Geillis Duncan. People already thought her a witch, and freshly widowed, her husband is no longer around to protect her from head hunters. But does Claire listen? Of course not. Where would the plot ever dream to go if Claire listened to Jamie??
Chapter 25 – Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch to Live
Thrown into the thieves’ hole and awaiting judgement, Geillis and Claire have A LOT of time to talk. It’s no secret that the whole of Cranesmuir thinks Geillis is a witch, and with her husband no longer around to serve as a buffer, I suppose it was only a matter of time before she was rounded up and put on trial. Claire’s involvement in the whole thing was a case of horrendous timing. Claire has merely been caught up in Colum MacKenzie’s solution to his younger brother’s problematic exploits. Unbeknownst, even to Claire, Dougal and Geillis have been romantically involved for some time — despite the fact that they were both MARRIED. Um, yes Alex, I’ll take Adultery for 1000…
And what’s the cherry on top of the cake? Geillis is pregnant. Worse still, Geillis murdered her husband because he found out about the illegitimate pregnancy. She had been slowly poisoning him for months in the hopes that his death would go unnoticed, but our friend Geillie could never get so lucky. Instead, Arthur discovered his wife’s pregnancy, and Mistress Duncan was forced to act before he blabbed that his wife as an adulterous harlot. If I had to rank the characters from the Outlander series on their level of cold-bloodedness, Geillis would definitely crack the Top 3. She really shows no remorse for murder, and by her own admission, isn’t with Dougal for any reason other than the fact that he has a position of power and influence, and can help sway Scots in favor of the Jacobite cause.

EXCERPT #5:
“Was it Dougal you wanted, or only his position and money?”
“Oh, I had plenty of money,” she said, with a note of satisfaction. “I knew where Arthur kept the key to all his papers and notes, ye ken. And the man wrote a fair hand, I’ll say that for him — ‘twas simple enough to forge his signature. I’d managed to divert near on to ten thousand pound over the last two years.”
“But what for?” I asked, completely startled.
“For Scotland.”
“What?” For a moment, I thought I had misheard. Then I decided that one of us was possibly a trifle unbalanced. And going on the evidence to hand, it wasn’t me.
“What do you mean, Scotland?” I asked cautiously, drawing away a bit. I wasn’t sure just how unstable she was; perhaps pregnancy had unhinged her mind.
“Ye needna fear; I’m not mad.” The cynical amusement in her voice made me flush, grateful for the darkness.
“Oh, no?” I said, stung. “By your own admission, you’ve committed fraud, theft, and murder. It might be charitable to consider that you’re mad, because if you’re not–”
“Neither mad nor depraved,” she said, decisively. “I’m a patriot.”
The light dawned. I let out the breath I had been holding in expectation of a deranged attack.
“A Jacobite,” I said. “Holy Christ, you’re a bloody Jacobite!”
[Excerpt from OUTLANDER, Copyright 1991 Diana Gabaldon]
It must have been such a scary thing to live in a world where if you were just a little bit different, or made someone angry or jealous, you could be accused of witchcraft and burnt at the stake. Listening to some of the accusations — particularly the ones made about Claire, I can’t help but be horrified. The influence the church had in these matters blows my mind, quite frankly, and I can completely sympathize with Claire’s feelings of dread and confusion when some of these seemingly harmless acts end up biting her in the back side. The mere act of tending to Arthur Duncan as he passed has her “guilty by association” in some people’s books which is bad enough, but there are several other bouts of “damning evidence” that are presented to the ecclesiastical examiners.
When she tried to save the “faerie changeling” baby, Claire knew she was interfering with beliefs and customs beyond her understanding, but her instincts called her to try and save that sick child. Speaking as a 21st century woman, I can easily say I would have made the same choice. I highly doubt I could have walked away and let an innocent child die. The other piece of evidence that goes the furthest toward condemning Claire is when she offered to treat Father Bain, and told him the wound would fester if he didn’t let her look at it. Let’s face facts. Anything she could have said to this man would have been twisted around to condemn her simply because he doesn’t like her. He feels he should have sole control over his “flock”, and Claire, with her knowledge of science and healing is proving occurrences previously thought to be “the will of God” are actually within the power of the individual — which clearly rubs the priest the wrong way.
On day two of the trial, the examiners are quick about their work. Ned Gowan has done his part to slow the process and take the high of bloodlust out of the equation, but his knowledge of law and the ways of man are not enough to save Claire and Geillis from their fate. I’m not really sure whose idea it was to try women by water to see if they were innocent of witchcraft. The whole idea that guilty witches float and innocent women sink is asinine! The woman being tried either floats and is then pulled form the water to be burnt at the stake, or her “innocence” is proved, but she drowns anyway… I mean, the sheer STUPIDITY of this situation… I can’t even…
Obviously Claire feels the same and puts up a hell of a fight when they try to tie her up and throw her in the loch. While she ends up being whipped for her insubordination, the silver lining of the whole hot mess, is that this gives Jamie enough time to arrive on the scene. I have never been so relieved to see a fictional character in my entire life — hand to God.

EXCERPT #6:
The faces in the front row were staring at it in a kind of horrified bemusement. Their sudden silence affected those further back, and the roaring seethe of noise subsided. Jamie’s voice, customarily soft-spoken, even in anger, rang out in the silence. There was nothing soft about it now.
“Cut her down!”
The hangers-on had dropped away, and the waves of the crowd parted before him as he strode forward. The locksman watched him come, standing gape-jawed and frozen.
“I said, cut her down! Now!” The locksman, freed from his trance by the apocalyptic vision of the red-haired death bearing down on him, stirred himself and fumbled hastily for his dirk. The rope, sawn through, let go with a shuddering snap and my arms dropped like bolsters, aching with released strain. I staggered and would have fallen, but a strong, familiar hand caught my elbow and pulled me upright. Then my face was against Jamie’s chest, and nothing mattered to me anymore.
[Excerpt from OUTLANDER, Copyright 1991 Diana Gabaldon]
Leave it to our flame-haired beau to come up with a much less violent, not to mention more practical, solution to the question of whether his wife is a witch: the Jet rosary Colum gifted to Claire for the safe delivery of Losgann’s foal in Chapter 24. I guess saving the laird’s favorite horse has some advantages after all. Who knew? The use of the jet rosary is a double-edged sword. First, jet is believed to burn the skin of any witch who touches it. Similarly, the Cross is supposed to repel any creature of Satan. So, the idea that a woman could wear a rosary made of jet — according to the same myths and legends that damned said innocent woman — should acquit her of all charges, no?
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work that way, and Geillis ended up having to sacrifice herself to save Claire. In the process of doing just that, Geillis reveals to Claire the secret she’s been harboring, the reason she was so intent on finding out who Claire was and why she was in Scotland. With the flash of a tiny scar — the mark of a smallpox vaccine — all is revealed. I don’t now about you guys, but I was actually really surprised that Geillis was a time traveler. I thought she was strange, to be sure, but I never in a million years expected there to be multiple travelers, let alone, travelers in the same time and space! My mind was blown!
Claire’s mind is blown too. Not only is she trying to process the witch trial, and the level of wicked malice that would allow a crowd of ill-wishers to condemn an innocent woman, but she is also trying to process the death of her friend, and the fact that said friend was a time traveler! That’s almost too much to take in. When she finally settles, and Jamie feels she’s stable enough to speak, he asks her the question at the forefront of his mind. “Are you a witch?” To which Claire responds with unhinged cackling that would frighten the stoutest of companions. Something in Claire breaks at the insinuation. Of course Jamie would think she’s a witch! There is no other way for him to explain her. She’s immune to diseases that would kill the average person. She has knowledge that goes far beyond what even the smartest individual in the 18th century knows–knowledge that even extends to prediction of the future. “Witch” is the closes thing in the 18th-century vernacular that even comes close to an explanation.
But explain she does… EV-ER-Y-THING… Poor Jamie is just sitting on his rock internally freaking the f*** out… I would love to be in his head at that exact moment! Claire, at the end of her rope, collapses in a ball and cries her eyes out. She truly believes she’s lost everything. And then…

EXCERPT #7:
His hands on my shoulders raised me, enough to see his face. Through the haze of tears, I saw the look he wore in battle, of struggle that had passed the point of strain and become calm certainty.
“I believe you,” he said firmly. “I dinna understand it a bit–not yet–but I believe you. Claire, I believe you! Listen to me! There’s the truth between us, you and I, and whatever ye tell me, I shall believe it.” He gave me a gentle shake.
“It doesna matter what it is. You’ve told me. That’s enough for now. Be still, mo duinne. Lay your head and rest. You’ll tell me the rest of it later. And I’ll believe you.”
I was still sobbing, unable to grasp what he was telling me. I struggled, trying to pull away, but he gathered me up and held me tightly against himself, pushing my head into the folds of his plaid, and repeating over and over again, “I believe you.”
At last, from sheer exhaustion, I grew calm enough to look up and say, “But you can’t believe me.”
He smiled down at me. His mouth trembled slightly, but he smiled.
“Ye’ll no tell me what I canna do, Sassenach.”
[Excerpt from OUTLANDER, Copyright 1991 Diana Gabaldon]
I’m sure there are a lot of things spinning around in Jamie Fraser’s head after Claire drops The Bomb on him, and as usual when you finally get the whole story, things are probably starting to make A LOT of sense. Claire’s hesitancy and lack of commitment were a mask to hide the fact that her first husband was still very much a factor. He’s just… 200 years away… and she fully intended to get back to him. Her unwillingness to listen to Jamie and stay hidden in the glade all stemmed from her desire to return to her own time. And then of course there’s The Big One. He beat her for essentially attempting to remain faithful to Frank, and now that he has the whole story… well he feels bloody awful about it to tell the truth… And in that state of self-loathing, he makes the only call he can make, to take Claire back to the stones, and send her back to her time.
Claire weighs the pros and cons pretty heavily, but finds she can’t rely on emotion or reason. She has given wedding vows to Frank AND Jamie, and she also loves both of them. Where does that leave her? Well, in a highly logical move, she just starts walking, and then suddenly, and without fully realizing what happened, she finds herself at the dooryard of the cottage where Jamie is camped. She has her answer. Who needs hot baths and convenient travel when you have Jamie Fraser? Although I must say, hearing Claire’s description of Jamie’s sleeping face with dried tears staining his cheeks just about broke me in two! I suppose that made their reunion 30 seconds later that much sweeter. Ugh, I love me a good reunion–especially between Jamie and Claire. Let’s face it, they do it best anyway 🙂

EXCERPT #8:
“There aren’t any more ifs,” I said firmly. “I thought of every one of them yesterday, and here I still am.”
“Thank God,” he said, smiling, “and God help you.” Then he added, “Though I’ll never understand why.”
I put my arms around his waist and held on as the horse slithered down the last steep slope.
“Because,” I said, “I bloody well can’t do without you, Jamie Fraser, and that’s all about it. Now, where are you taking me?”
Jamie twisted in his saddle, to look back up the slope.
“I prayed all the way up that hill yesterday,” he said softly. “Not for you to stay; I didna think that would be right. I prayed I’d be strong enough to send ye away.” He shook his head, still gazing up the hill, a faraway look in his eyes.
“I said ‘Lord, if I’ve never had courage in my life before, let me have it now. Let me be brave enough not to fall on my knees and beg her to stay.’”
[Excerpt from OUTLANDER, Copyright 1991 Diana Gabaldon]
Jamie is more than a little confused at Claire’s decision, and I get it. She’s been trying to get home to the for the better part of six months at this point. He finally gives her what she wants, and she chooses to stay…? Talk about the old adage, “If you love something, set it free…”, but given the fact that he’s head over heels for the woman, he’s not too inclined to argue. Now, after surviving the hardest thing he’s ever had to do–letting Claire go, our dear Jamie is ready to face another situation that scares him. They are going home… to Lallybroch.
Make sure to join me next week for the next edition of Outlander Book Club where we will be discussing Parts 5 & 6: “Lallybroch” and “The Search”. Until then, I bid you adieu.
Cheers!!
Thank you, that was just lovely. I stumbled on your book club by accident but loved reading your thoughts. I agreed 100%.
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Great analysis and thoughts again. Thanks for your blog; it’s a refreshing change from the focus on the TV series.
Alison Stewart
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