SPOILER ALERT: Dinna read unless you've read chapter 98 in A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES.
So wow. Where to start? Malva a ho. A big, fat, DEAD ho. And I canna feel bad about it. Not one bit. What I can feel bad about is Claire's ridiculous and annoying need to GET INVOLVED in every crisis that is better off left alone. Case in point - trying to save Malva's dead bairn. Although - she's a doctor - I get it. How could she see that belly move and NOT try to save the baby? I was with her on that. But I'm thinking she should have run to the house - gotten someone - ANYONE - as a witness - and said "OK I'm going to cut into this dead Malva I just found in order to try to save her baby. Capice?" And she would have had an alibi. But no - she just slices right in with her Swiss army knife and once again - Claire's in deep doo-doo.
How POWERFUL was that standoff scene with Jamie and Claire at the big house? Holy god. I love how Claire is just able to shoot someone and go about her business of hiding in the house and making a bite to eat for Jamie.. and no one cares at all. Why isn't anyone taking her to jail for THAT?
And speaking of jail. Or Gaol. Um, YUCK. Mrs. Ferguson would have been told PRONTO that she should keep her damned hands to herself. I mean, really. I couldna have even stayed in the bed with her after that - roaches or no.
And is it me or do people just go into labor all around Claire - at opportune times? It's fascinating! "Oh wow - I hate being in jail - it's stinky and I'm bored". "Shriekkkkkk!" "Oh look - I can get out and hang out by the hearth and deliver a child! That will take a good couple of hours. Excellent!"
Here's a scene I want to see in ABOSAA: The Movie: Jamie running after the carriage as Claire and the Governor are riding down the street. Oh. My. Holy. Ever. Loving. God. I DIED! SO heroic. And Ian's all "Um, hullo, Uncle Jamie? Your damned HAT fell off and now the whole world and maybe even Jupiter knows it's you, ya DUMBASS." That was tremendous. Poor Jamie. He's all panting and shiz. It reminds you he's now old, just like the rest of us.
OK more in the next entry - this one's gettin' a little long....
May I just say, I love your longer entries! I mean, the books are a thousand pages, right? Plus your writing is never boring.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's true that for me, as much as the hair, as much as the assault, is seeing Claire being stoned by these toothless fools. It just killed me! I haaaaated it. Sometimes I also haaaate seeing Claire act so stupidly - she knows how things will play out! She knows that if anyone sees her trying to save Mulva's baby they'll think she killed her! She's from BOSTON in the 70s now, basically! But she goes on anyhow.
And I love the abosaa: the movie scene. But can I say, Jamie will never be old! (um, not to me :-))) Even old Jamie is most vibrant and youthful than most young people.
And Mrs. Ferguson's hands? God, Claire has had to suffer so many indignities. Wild!
good call on getting a witness for the c section. That would have solved alot of problems. The standoff at the house was HOT.
ReplyDeleteFerguson, here we thought she was doing Claire a favor by saying she was the forger when actually being a forger was more terrible and worth a hangin than a murderess.
Did love the scene of Ian in the woods following Jamie and Claire when they were taken. Or how about when Ian found Jamie in the shed near the water. How many times can I say it, I LOVE IAN. He is what Jamie was to me in his younger days. HOT AND SEXILIOUS!!!!
The scene where Jamie runs after Claire's carriage is IMHO one of the funniest in the whole book. I just love Ian's reaction. Priceless!
ReplyDeletePoor Jamie; his heroic instincts are as strong as ever, but his body isn't always quite up to it anymore.
The scene on the road to New Bern where J & C are forcibly separated invariably makes me yell at the book, "Hey! HEY!! You can't DO that! Haven't they been through enough already in this book?! STOP THAT!" I told Diana this once, on Compuserve, and she just gave me that trademark <eg> (evil grin) of hers. :-)
Karen
Thanks Sirena! You are verra sweet, lass.
ReplyDeleteShannon - good point about the forging charge. Here we thought she was lucky. HA! Can you believe it would have been worse than murder? They made it seem like she'd have gotten off really easy. Somehow I don't think Brown knew that.
Karen - I absolutely love the thought of Jamie running after that carriage. And it reminded me of things I do and then think better of afterward - physically, I mean. Even bending over to pick something up - and I'll hear something creak - and thinking "oh no... guess that wasn't the best idea..." Jamie just doesna age in my mind... so it's interesting when we're reminded that he's "no spring chicken" anymore. I think it makes him seem so much more real. It reminds me of his 50th birthday when he wokeup and took inventory. I could read that part over and over again...
I also love, love how DG is so talented at giving us a back story for so many characters, from Mrs. Ferguson to the gaol keeper's wife (I forget her name). She takes the most innocuous little details and makes each character unique and almost three-dimensional. Thinking of Ian running through the woods tracking Jamie and Claire - love it! It takes his years as a Mohawk and makes them almost worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteI also loved the scene where Jamie runs after the carriage. What I really love is after Ian yells at him and Jamie tells Ian that he sounds like Jenny and needs to be shut up. Too funny!
ReplyDeleteI am also with you on the whole c-section thing. I was like, "Claire, what the hell are you doing???? You know everyone already thinks you're a witch or something!" Just imagine what people would have said if she had actually been able to save the baby!
Looking forward to seeing you all during our chat tonight!
-Sue A.
I kept thinking that. I thought "What in god's name are you going to do with this baby?! Raise it as your own?! How gross would THAT be?! The Ridgers would REALLY have a chat session about the Frasers THEN!"
ReplyDeleteHello! I've been reading your blog for a few weeks now and this is my first time to comment. I just want to say how much I adore your site!! Jamie Fraser has pretty much dominated my life for the past 6 months and I have no one to talk to about it, so needless to say I really enjoy reading your posts :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I had discovered you earlier when I first started the series, but I'm just going back in your archives and reading the posts as they correspond with where I am (I'm almost finished with ABOSAA)!
I just read the part where Bree catches Jem singing "Folsom Prison Blues" and then he lowers his voice and says "Hello. I'm Johnny Cash." Oh, so adorable and heartwarming! And it made me happy to hear that Roger is singing again!
WELCOME Blue Moon Magnolia!!!! We are thrilled to have you here! Keep on reading! You always have friends here! :) PS - you are almost finished ABOSAA! Then Echo and then you're finished until Book 8 comes out! Woot woot!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading the pay where Claire and Jamie are being taken, are staying at an inn and talking about standing trial. Claire says she has never been on trial. Does a witch trial not count? That bothered me.
ReplyDeleteI have really been enjoying these posts as I am reading. Better five years late than never!
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DeleteI'm reading the pay where Claire and Jamie are being taken, are staying at an inn and talking about standing trial. Claire says she has never been on trial. Does a witch trial not count? That bothered me.
ReplyDeleteI have really been enjoying these posts as I am reading. Better five years late than never!
This bothered me too!
DeleteHi Carol and co. Oh I'm weeping for Tom Christie :,-(. For me he is the hero above all in this section. I just can't believe that Claire didn't realize that he was inlove with her all along. I did when he was in her surgery and they shared some intimate staring contest or whatever. I NEED who rid the world of Wee Ho, the sequel and who the baby daddy was.
ReplyDeleteA movie scene I would love to see? Jamie appearing from a cloud of smoke as he made his way to Claire on the boat. My heart absolutely melted.