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Dragonfly in Amber
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Read Dragonfly in Amber
Outlander: Book 2

Dragonfly in Amber (1992) (edit title/settings)

by Diana Gabaldon (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

From the author of Outlander ... a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland... For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. ... read more

Summary edit see section history

Dragonfly in Amber, the second book in the best-selling Outlander series, is written by Diana Gabaldon.

Her books are difficult to classify by genre, since they contain elements of romantic fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction. The stories center around a time-travelling... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Dragonfly in Amber, the second book in the best-selling Outlander series, is written by Diana Gabaldon.

Her books are difficult to classify by genre, since they contain elements of romantic fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction. The stories center around a time-travelling 20th-century nurse (Claire Randall) and her 18th-century Scottish husband (Jamie Fraser), and are located in Scotland, France, the West Indies, and America.

Scotland, 1968
Dragonfly in Amber opens when Claire returns to Scotland with her twenty-year old daughter, Brianna, hoping to find a way to break the news of the girl's true paternity to her, with the help of historian Roger Wakefield.

The story then flashes back in time (literally and figuratively) to when Claire and Jamie lived in Paris after their escape at the end of Outlander. As the story develops, we learn about Claire and Jamie Fraser's fight to stop the 1745 Jacobite rebellion and the bloody battle of Culloden -- and also how and why Claire returned to the future.

Paris, 1744
At the end of Outlander, Claire convinced Jamie that they should do everything they could to stop the coming Jacobite Rising and the slaughter that would follow. After learning that Charles Stuart is trying to get money from the French King, Louis XV, they travel to Paris. In Paris, Jamie agrees to work with his cousin Jared, running his wine business and, since many of his French relatives are Jacobites and are well placed in society, secures meetings with Charles Edward Stuart (also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie) and many well-to-do members of the French aristocracy and bourgeoisie. So, while running Jared Fraser's wine business, Jamie and Claire begin to plot against the Bonnie Prince.

However, their lives are soon interrupted by the arrival of Jack Randall, a character that Jamie and Claire thought had died at Wentworth Prison. Jamie, in spite of promising Claire that he would spare Randall's life in order to spare Claire's previous husband, Frank, challenges Randall to a duel in the Bois de Boulogne. Though he doesn't kill the man, he does wound him and renders him impotent. And, after she witnesses the duel, Claire loses the child she was carrying and is taken away to l'Hôpital des Anges, where they believe she won't recover. Jamie is sent to the Bastille for the crime of dueling.

Scotland, 1745 and the Rising
After recovering from her illness, Claire manages to free Jamie from prison. One of the conditions of his release is that they must leave France, so they sail to Scotland. (Fortunately, Jamie is pardoned for his crimes and won't be arrested by the English.) Once in Scotland, Claire and Jamie settle in to farm life at Jamie's home at Lallybroch, with his sister, Jenny, and her family. However, Jamie receives a letter from Charles Stuart, announcing his attempt to retake the throne of Scotland. There is no escape, as Charles has had Jamie's signature forged on the letter as one of his supporters. The Rising has begun.

Seeing no option but to go and fight for the Stuarts, Jamie gathers the men of Lallybroch to join the Stuart army. They fight and win at the battle of Prestonpans, but the tide soon turns against the Jacobites. The Rising culminates in the disastrous battle of Culloden. Jamie, knowing that the Scots won't win at Culloden, takes Claire and heads for Craig na Dun, where he forces her to travel back to her own time, to spare her the battle's aftermath. Before she goes, however, Jamie tells Claire that he knows she is pregnant again. After sending her through the stones, Jamie returns to Culloden, intending to die.

1968, again
The lengthy flashback ends and the reader learns that the child Claire was carrying through the stones is Brianna. Claire explains that Frank asked Claire where she had been during her absence but refused to believe her, thinking she was mentally unstable. Claire told him to leave her but suspecting he was sterile and desperate for a child, he asked Claire to allow him to be father to her baby and only tell Brianna the truth after his death. The novel ends with Roger informing Claire that Jamie didn't die at Culloden. And the reason why Claire wanted Roger to be present while revealing to Brianna her true parentage.

Characters edit see section history

  • Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser: Claire is the main character of this series. She is a strong woman who has no problem stating her opinion. She is hilarious and passionate and every woman will be able to identify with her on some level. There are few that do not end up being a good friend, with her ability to heal others and fend for herself against anything she has to, including staying in a loveless marriage.
  • Jamie Fraser: (James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser) Claire's husband. A thoughtful and patient man. Very caring and seems to think of others before himself. Fiercely loyal.
  • Roger Wakefield: Rev. Wakefield's adopted son
  • Brianna Randall: Jamie and Claire's daughter.
  • Bonnie Prince Charlie: Heir to the Throne and the reason for the second Jacobite Rising.
  • Murtagh: Jamie's Godfather and kinsmen.
  • Fergus: A boy who worked in a brothel in France that Jamie saved and employed.
  • Jared Fraser: Jamie's Uncle, a wine distributor
  • Dougal Mackenzie: Jamie's uncle; war chieftain of Clan MacKenzie
  • Mary Hawkins: friend of Claire; volunteers with Claire at L'Hopital des Anges
  • Master Raymond: A man who worked in a apothecary in France that helped Claire.
  • Ian Murray: Married to Jamie's sister Jenny; also his boyhood friend
  • Mother Hildegarde: Mother Superior at L'Hopital des Anges
  • Colum MacKenzie: Leader of Clan MacKenzie. Jamie's uncle.
  • Louise: Prince Charles Mistress
  • Janet (Jenny) Murray: Jamie's sister.
  • Jack Randall: Frank's 6 times great grandfather and all around snake. He is about the worst guy one could come to know. He does one thing in his life that can be construed as good, and he is forced to do that. How he is known in history as a guy Frank finds wonderful and interesting is a farce that makes one wonder about other historical figures.
  • Fiona: In love with Roger Wakefield and also his housekeeper
  • Lord Lovat: Jamie's Grandfather "Simon Sr."
  • Monsieur Forez: Doctor and hangman in France
  • Alex Randall: Jonathan (Black Jack) Randall's twin brother.
  • Bouton: The little dog that followed the Mother Superior around the hospital
  • Simon Young: Uncle to Jamie. Posed to be the next Lord Lovett
  • Geillis Duncan: A woman who was "friends" with Claire. Also a time-traveler and a witch.
  • Frank Randall: Claire's first husband and apparent descendent of Jack Randall
  • Rupert: part of Clan MacKenzie; good friend to Dougal; very good at stealing cows
  • Magnus: Jared Fraiser's butler
  • Herr Gerstmann: The singing master in France. He introduces Claire to Mother Hildegarde.
Show all 28 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Like I told you Sassenach, sometimes it's an advantage to be thought a barbarian.”
    Jamie Fraser
  • “...and in that moment, I felt my heart beak. It was a small, clean sound; like the snapping of a flower stem.”
    Claire Beauchamp
  • “When I shall stand before God, I shall have one thing to say, to stand against the rest....Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well.”
    Jamie Fraser
  • “Ye dinna want to put your head near my oxter, Sassenach. I smell like a boar that's been dead a week.”
    Jamie Fraser
  • “I found myself thinking that I had always heretofore assumed that the tendency of eighteenth-century ladies to swoon was due to tight stays; now I rather thought it might be due to the idiocy of eighteenth-century men.”
    Claire Beauchamp
  • “No, the fault lies with the artist. The writers, the singers, the tellers of tales. It's them that take the past and recreate it to their liking. Them that could take a fool and give you back a hero, take a sot and make him a king.”
    Claire Beauchamp
  • “'You are mine,' it had said. 'Mine! And I will not let you go.'”
    Jamie Fraser
  • “Oh, Claire, ye do break my heart wi' loving you.”
    Jamie Fraser
  • “You're mine, damn ye, Claire Fraser! Mine, and I wilna share ye, with a man or a memory, or anything whatever, so long as both shall live.”
    Jamie Fraser
  • “Tell him I hate him to his guts and the marrow of his bones!”
    Jamie Fraser
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “Lord, ye gave me a rare woman, and God! I loved her well.”
    Highlighted by 151 Kindle customers
  • But from the very start, there is that small streak of steel within each child. That thing that says “I am,” and forms the core of personality.
    Highlighted by 124 Kindle customers
  • “For I give ye my spirit, ’til our life shall be done.”
    Highlighted by 108 Kindle customers
  • “Blood of my blood,” he whispered, “and bone of my bone. You carry me within ye, Claire, and ye canna leave me now, no matter what happens. You are mine, always, if ye will it or no, if ye want me or nay. Mine, and I wilna let ye go.”
    Highlighted by 107 Kindle customers
  • “Then let amorous kisses dwell On our lips, begin and tell A Thousand and a Hundred score A Hundred, and a Thousand more.”
    Highlighted by 85 Kindle customers
  • But for the hours of the night, I was helpless; powerless to move as a dragonfly in amber.
    Highlighted by 82 Kindle customers
  • “But I talk to you as I talk to my own soul,” he said, turning me to face him. He reached up and cupped my cheek, fingers light on my temple. “And, Sassenach,” he whispered, “your face is my heart.”
    Highlighted by 71 Kindle customers
  • In the next years, the hardening spreads from the center, as one finds and fixes the facets of the soul, until “I am” is set, delicate and detailed as an insect in amber.
    Highlighted by 60 Kindle customers
  • “Jonathan Wolverton Randall,” she said softly, “1705–1746. I told you, didn’t I? You bastard, I told you!”
    Highlighted by 43 Kindle customers
  • Dragonfly in Amber Voyager
    Highlighted by 22 Kindle customers
Show all 20 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

The book takes place simultaneouslly in 18th century and 1968. First storyline (one in 18th century) takes place both in Scotland and Paris prior to and during Jacobian rebelion. Second one takes place in Scotland.
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Organizations edit see section history

  • Jacobites: A Jacobite was a supporter of the exiled royal house of the Stuart; exiled in 1688. It was a movement to get the Catholics back on the English throne and supported by the French, Scottish and the Irish. The movement was lead by Charles Stuart, nick named Bonnie Prince Charlie. The main supporters of the movement were Catholic Scottish Highlanders. In 1946 the Jacobites fought and lost to the English Army at Culloden Moor.

First Sentence edit see section history

Roger Wakefield stood in the center of the room, feeling surrounded.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Prologue
Part One - Through a Looking Glass, Darkly - Inverness, 1968
1. Mustering the Roll
2. The Plot Thickens
3. Mothers and Daughters
4. Culloden
5. Beloved Wife
Part Two - The Pretenders - Le Havre, Frace, February 1744
6. Making Waves
7. Royal Audience
8. Unlaid Ghosts and Crocodiles
9. The Splendors of Versailles
10. A Lady, with Brown Hair Curling Luxuriantly
11. Useful Occupations
12. L'Hopital des Anges
13. Deceptions
14. Meditations on the Flesh
15. When Music Plays a Part
16. The Nature of Sulfur
17. Possession
Part Three - Malchance
18. Rape in Paris
19. An Oath Is Sworn
20. La Dame Blanche
21. Untimely Resurrection
Part Four - Scandale
22. The Royal Stud
23. The Best-laid Plans of Mice and Men...
24. The Bois de Boulogne
25. Raymond the Heretic
26. Fontainebleau
27. An Audience with His Majesty
28. The Coming of the Light
29. To Grasp the Nettle
Part Five - "I Am Come Home"
30. Lallybroch
31. Mail Call
32. Field of Dreams
33. Thy Brother's Keeper
34. The Postman Always Rings Twice
35. Moonlight
Part Six - The Flames of Rebellion
36. Prestonpans
37. Holyrood
38. A Bargain with the Devil
39. Family Ties
40. The Fox's Lair
41. The Seer's Curse
42. Reunions
43. Falkirk
44. In Which Quite a Lot of Things Gang Agley
45. Damn All Randalls
46. Timor Mortis Conturbat Me
Part Seven - Hindsight
47. Loose Ends
48. Witch-Hunt
49. Blessed Art Those...

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 2 of 12 in Outlander. (standard series)

Preceded by Outlander, and followed by Voyager.

This is book 69 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2007. (authoritative list)
This is book 56 of 105 in AAR Top 100 Romances 1998. (authoritative list)
This is book 28 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2000. (authoritative list)
This is book 19 of 109 in Top 109 Romance Novels (TheRomanceReader.com). (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Diana Gabaldon (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1992
ISBN: 0385302312
Page Count: 752

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3557.A22 D7 2001
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Though not pornographic, this series does contain sexual scenes.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Born in Sin
  • Everything in Its Time
  • Wild Highland Rose
  • The Promise

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • The Outlandish Companion
  • Outlander

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