Author: Diana Gabaldon
Started: April 28, 2018
Finished: May 22, 2018
Pages: 494
Genre: Fiction
First Sentence: To the best of Lord John Grey’s knowledge, stepmothers as depicted in fiction tended to be venal, evil, cunning, homicidal, and occasionally cannibalistic.
Summary: [From BN] Diana Gabaldon takes readers back to eighteenth-century Britain as Lord John Grey pursues a deadly family secret as well as a clandestine love affair, set against the background of the Seven Years War. Seventeen years earlier, Grey’s father, the Duke of Pardloe, shot himself, days before he was to be accused of being a Jacobite traitor. By raising a regiment to fight at Culloden, Grey’s elder brother has succeeded in redeeming the family name, aided by Grey, now a major in that regiment. But now, on the eve of the regiment’s move to Germany, comes a mysterious threat that throws the matter of the Duke’s death into stark new question, and brings the Grey brothers into fresh conflict with the past and each other. From barracks and parade grounds to the battlefields of Prussia and the stony fells of the Lake District, Lord John’s struggle to find the truth leads him through danger and passion, ever deeper, toward the answer to the question at the centre of his soul–what is it that is most important to a man? Love, loyalty, family name? Self-respect, or honesty? Surviving both the battle of Krefeld and a searing personal betrayal, he returns to the Lake District to find the man who may hold the key to his quest: a Jacobite prisoner named Jamie Fraser. Here, Grey finds his truth and faces a final choice: between honour and life itself.
Thoughts: From now on, I really need to read summaries of the previous titles in this series. I was basically lost for the first 100 pages, but I held on because Gabaldon is a writer I just enjoy reading. The overarching story of this book was Lord John trying to find the truth of his father's death. Along the way he deals with family, a personal romance, military battles, and encounters with James Fraser.
For me, this series is something you read when you want to go along for a ride. It's an insight into a character's life and all the interesting things he encounters. It's not much more than that. These aren't high stake books but they are enjoyable.
Rating: 6/10 [Good]
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