A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Diana Gabaldon

The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest.

With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence — with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie’s death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.

Bravo!!! I loved this book, it was right up there with ‘Outlander and Voyager’. Where ‘The Fiery Cross’ was a little slow and drawn out ‘A Breath of Snow and Ashes’ was fast paced and exciting. It never stopped and they went from one adventure to the next. A lot of pieces of the puzzle were put together, there was a little bit of suspense and I laughed out loud many times. Oh, and I had a few good cries too. Claire continues to amaze me, she is such a strong character. Again, her medical advances thrilled me and Brianna was a lot more likeable in this book. She was always inventing new things to make life easier on ‘Frasier’s Ridge’. You learn a lot more about Jocasta in this book and a few unwelcome characters are back and some are introduced. I thought it was a fabulous read and I can’t wait for the next book to come out in September.

I give this book a 5, I loved every page!

Now that I have read the whole series I would love to discuss it with some of you! I have a Book Club on GoodReads called ‘Hodge Podge Book Club’ with Outlander discussions. Discuss a book at a time or the whole series!

Favorite quotes…

Ian opened one eye a slit.
“Has anyone ever told you what a comical fellow ye are, Uncle Jamie?”
“No.”
Ian closed the eye.
“That’s as well, because ye’re not.”

“If I die,” he whispered in the dark, “dinna follow me. The bairns will need ye. Stay for them. I can wait.”

I regarded him gently over my own bowl of stew. He was very large, solid, and beautifully formed. And if he was a bit battered by circumstance, that merely added to his charm.
“You’re a very hard person to kill, I think,” I said. ”That’s a great comfort to me.”
He smiled, reluctant, but then reached out and lifted his glass in salute, touching it first to his own lips, then to mine.
“We’ll drink to that, Sassenach, shall we?”

“Ian, there is a woman in my bed,” he said in Gaelic, trying to match his nephew’s calm tone.
“There are two of them, Uncle Jamie.” Ian sounded amused, damn him! “The other will be down by your feet. Waiting her turn.”
That unnerved him, and he nearly lost his grip on the captive hand.
“Two of them! What do they think I am?”
The girl giggled again, leaned over, and bit him lightly on the chest.
“Christ!”

Then Jamie’s hand came down upon the dirk, snatching it away, and I saw as from a great distance that the light fell on his hand, gleaming wet with blood smeared past the wrist. Random drops shone red, dark jewels glowing, caught in the curly hairs of his arm.
“There is an oath upon her,” he said to Arch, and I realized dimly that he was still speaking in Gaelic, though I understood him clearly. “She may not kill, save it is for mercy or her life. It is myself who kills for her.”

He’d led her through the morning light in that clearing, a blood-soaked Adam, a battered Eve, looking upon the knowledge of good and evil. And then he had wrapped her in his plaid, picked her up, and walked away to his horse.

Jamie inhaled deeply, then let his breath out slowly, coughing slightly from the smoke.
“Aye, well,” he said. ”So we’re down by one print shop and one thief—but four whores to the good. D’ye think that a fair exchange, Sassenach?”

“You wouldn’t. He wouldn’t.” The lawyer was staring at the brooch in Roger’s hand, his heavy face gone pale.
“Oh, I expect he would, if ye mean Uncle Jamie,” Ian Murray said.  “He’s fond of his daughter, aye?”
“Nonsense.”  The lawyer was making a game attempt to bluff it out, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off the brooch. “Fraser is a gentleman.”
“He’s a Highlander,” Roger said brutally.