“Not the historians. No, not them. Their greatest crime is that they presume to know what happened, how things come about, when they have only what the past chose to leave behind – for the most part, they think what they were meant to think, and it’s a rare one that sees what really happened, behind the smoke screen of artifacts and paper.”
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I think if the sections of this book had been ordered differently, this would’ve been four stars. As it was, opening with the knowledge that Claire and Jamie have been apart for 20 years was devastating coming after their epic love story in book 1. That was in the back of my mind throughout the book, and also spoiled that their efforts to stop the war had been in vain. It was also jarring to integrate Roger’s POV. 

I felt quite frustrated at the pacing of their time in France. Although there was a lot of melodrama both between Jamie and Claire and with other characters, it felt like nothing of merit was happening. 

Once they were back in Scotland, this book really picked up for me. I especially loved the choice to bring Alec, the stable hand, back. We get this intensely stark contrast of an aging but otherwise healthy and boisterous man to a starving shell of human being. That more than anything drove home the utter catastrophe that was the Prince’s war. 

The words in the wedding ring were also so special because they confirmed that Jamie’s love started long before Clare was aware of it. 

I found Clare to be often unlikable, especially in regards to Jamie. That felt like an odd choice, to make her so selfish someone regarding she loved so deeply. I will definitely continue the series, but this was a letdown.