SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you have finished Chapter 19 in A Breath of Snow and Ashes.
Whoa. Double whoa. This book is so damned good I don't know what to DO with myself. I canna believe how quickly it got started. It's so not like Diana to write something so fast-and-furious, right out of the gate! I love it!Did I mention how much I loved Roger and Jemmy sharing the bread pudding at River Run? SO cute. (My god with the maple syrup and butter? I was drooling all over my Kindle at the mere thought.) Roger is quickly becoming one of my favorite things about this series. It's to the point where I do the happy dance when I start a chapter and realize it's from his point of view. And how interesting that Stephen Bonnet should be in Cross Creek - and speak to Jemmy (um, EW). All I could hear in my head when he started asking him who his dad is was Chris Rock yelling "RUN!!!" Why was he dressed like a gentleman? That was verra intriguing. And I am more than a little curious as to the state of his, um, privates... since Bree shot him in that general vicinity a while back. That seems to be a recurring theme, what with Jamie robbing Jack Randall of his own private parts long ago.
OK - how much did I LOVE the hay-making scene? I don't know WHAT it is about these hard-work-then-celebrate scenes but I love them so much. Remember when they harvested potatoes at Lallybroch? It's just so cool how the men all work in the fields, the women all work in the kitchen and then they all meet up and have a big, ol' party after the women set up the supper. I swear I half expect them to break out into a Broadway number with the men heave-ho-ing and the women dancing while carrying baskets over their heads. LOL (I just cracked myself right the hell up.) Seriously though, I love how the men all start drinking and then just pass out next to their wives. It's very cute. (Meanwhile I wouldn't find it cute in the slightest if it were my husband passing out on the grass next to me, but that's a blog for another day. )
OK so... Hi - Bobby and the Beardsleys disappearing into the woods? Whassup wit dat??? I don't buy that it was just a little scuttle over Lizzie for a second. There is something UP there. Definitely. And how about Ian just sauntering over to Lizzie... telling her he needed help with his hand... and that was that. And Jamie commanding it, knowing exactly how it would go down. I loved it. Lizzie - in my humble opinion - has the world by the cajones right about now. I do find it intriguing that the two men she wants the most (not her betrothed, mind you) both have permanent markings on their faces. Things that make you go "hmmmm"....
OK off to read. Jamie and Ian just left to go see Bird on a Wire... (LOL - I always forget his name...he's going to have a new name every time I mention him)... and I am none too happy about it. And it's such bullshiz because I should NOT be giving a rat's ass about what goes down during Jamie's trips to the Cherokee - other than the negotiations between the two MEN. I wish "that" scene was just never in the book. In fact, I might just erase it from memory and pretend it didna happen. Yup. That's what I'm going to do...
*Thanks to hayinart.com for the photo.
I think the passing out has as much to do with the hard work of haying as it does the alcohol. Remember the scene in Outlander (I think) when Jenny stops talking and Ian and Jamie fall asleep at the table? It's hard work being a farmer.
ReplyDeleteI loved the musical comment....on that note, how awesome would this series be as a musical??!! DG should get right on that!
Oh Jo, I totally agree! I think it was probably MORE from the haying. I'm just being a wiseguy about my husband because he doesn't do any haying. LOL!!
ReplyDeleteDon't you just want to smack Bree for having told Bonnet (way back In DoA) Jemmy was his son? WHAT was she thinking? And Bonnet believes it ~ why wouldn't he? That's just gotta kill Roger inside.
ReplyDeleteOh great point, Laura. I guess she figured he wouldn't be alive long enough for it to matter. And did we ever hear what she did with the stone he gave her to cover expenses for Jemmy? Was that one of the stones they were trying to blow up in his hand (LOL)? And that was SO uncharacteristic of Bonnet. I guess he was in a good mood because he got to, you know, LIVE and all!!
ReplyDeleteThe stone Bonnet gave Bree is the black diamond, no? The one he stole from Jamie way back in Drums. I think they have that stone put away with the others....
ReplyDeleteI'd have to go check. I just don't remember it ever being mentioned or talked about after that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Laura. My opinion of Bree dropped big time at that point. There was just no reason for her say that, especially when she knew, after talking with her mother, that Roger could be the father also. IIRC, this was about forgiveness. If that is what she had to do to help herself, then go for it. Considering the situation, the logical thing would have been to have LJG hand carry a letter of forgiveness (but nothing in the letter about the baby), but that is not dramatic enough. So, she forces LJG to escort her so she can talk to Bonnet in person. OK, I can tolerate that, it makes the story more interesting. But, to tell him he is the father of her baby when she didn't know that for certain, was just plain stupid. I don't see what that has to do with forgiveness, especially to a man like Bonnet.
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, Bonnet did not seem at all like the kind of man who cared about being forgiven for anything, much less what he did to Bree. To his little warped mind, there was nothing to be forgiven for.
I agree! I hate that there's any cloud of doubt over little Jamie. I'm constantly afraid for Jocasta and Duncan with Bonnet lurking around (although they can def. take care of themselves. They're kind of badass).
ReplyDeleteAnd, whenever I read the name Bird on a wire - or bird with long hair - I think of a typo on the menu at the Thai restaurant near my house - they have a dish called "Bird Nest's On Fired."
Oops - little Jemmy :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's it! He's "Birds Nest on Fire" the next time I refer to him. Excellent! Thanks for the tip, Serena! I love it! LOL
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