Bookit Review #21: Dragonfly in Amber

Title: Dragonfly in Amber
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Published: October 2004 (current edition) (original Print in 1992)
Genre: Romance/Sci-fi & Fantasy/Historical
My grade: B

This is the second book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  It covers a period of almost two years in Claire and Jamie’s life.  At the end of the first book, Jamie & Claire have left Scotland for France to start a new stage in their life after the devastating events at the prison and with the start of Claire’s pregnancy.  They decide to try to change history and stop the rebellion for the Stuarts from happening to save their family and friends.

I found this book to be interesting and involving, but perhaps not as good as the two books that sandwich it (more on Voyager later this month).  The intersection of the fictional lives of Claire and Jamie with the historical lives of people such  as Charles Stuart (ie Bonny Prince Charlie), Louise de Rouen, and King Louis was interesting, although not always historically accurate.   Being interested in the history behind it all, I googled some of the characters and the timelines involved.  Despite the inaccuracy (for example, it was Louise’s second son, named after his father, that was believed to be the son of Charles, not the first.) it was a fairly good read.

My only real problem in these books is twofold.  One, the homosexual characters in the first two books are a rapist (Jack Randall) and a pedophile (Duke of Sandringham) that people joke about.  Second, the book relies a bit too much on rape as a drama element.  There are at least two very significant plot points involving rape, and several rape-attempts through the first book, and once in the second.  While I suppose an element of the time might be the threat of rape, I do feel these books have it occurring with too much regularity.

This book may contain triggers for, as previously stated, rape and also miscarriage and some violence.

The book takes place in both France, Scotland, and the 1960s, giving us a brief peek at the future, which sets up book three nicely.

My final grade for this book is a B.