What a long (nearly 750 pages), intense (did I mention intense...very few pages) novel! Diana Gabaldon gives her readers ample content for every penny spent on her novels.
Dragonfly in Amber, the second in Gabaldon's Outlander series, a series that contains eight novels (so far), continues the many adventures of Jamie and Claire Frasier via a flashback as Claire relates to her daughter who her father really is...a man who lived two hundred years ago. I became so caught up in the narrative that I forgot, until brought back to the future, that the whole novel was actually a memory.
I have struggled with this series...until about midway through this second novel, but now I am hooked! I have already pulled the third one off the shelf, ready to continue the journey with Claire.
Claire almost seems to have a split personality: the person she was two hundred years ago and the person she really is...or is not. The passage through the stone changes not just time but also the character of Claire, as well. Personally, I prefer the older Claire...or is it the younger Claire...the Claire from two hundred years ago. She is truly alive and in love.
I have not read nearly enough historical fiction in a very long time and am greatly enjoying it and am learning much. This may, in part, be why I struggled with the content, for I did not bring enough background knowledge concerning the history of English, France, and Scotland from several hundred years ago when I began this novel. I actually slowed down as I read this second one and studied...yes, studied the historical context.
Summer is just the perfect time to delve into a book in which time allows the immersion into such an intense world. Yes, now would be a great time to check out this series!
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