Outlander - by Diana Gabaldon (Paperback)

About the Book

First in a three-book series that combines time travel, humor, and passionate romance. While Claire and her husband visit an ancient stone monument in 1945 England, Claire is suddenly thrust back to the year 1743--and becomes torn between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Book Synopsis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The first book in Diana Gabaldon's acclaimed Outlander saga, the basis for the Starz original series.

One of the top ten best-loved novels in America, as seen on PBS's The Great American Read!

Unrivaled storytelling. Unforgettable characters. Rich historical detail. These are the hallmarks of Diana Gabaldon's work. Her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels have earned the praise of critics and captured the hearts of millions of fans. Here is the story that started it all, introducing two remarkable characters, Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser, in a spellbinding novel of passion and history that combines exhilarating adventure with a love story for the ages.

Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach--an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743.

Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, Claire learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.

From the Back Cover

CLAIRE RANDALL IS LEADING A DOUBLE LIFE. SHE HAS A HUSBAND IN ONE CENTURY, AND A LOVER IN ANOTHER....

In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon -- when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach -- an "outlander" -- in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord...1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire's destiny is soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidding Castle Leoch. She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life...and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

Review Quotes

Praise for Diana Gabaldon's Outlander novels

"Marvelous and fantastic adventures, romance, sex . . . perfect escape reading."--San Francisco Chronicle, on Outlander

"History comes deliciously alive on the page."--New York Daily News, on Outlander

"Gabaldon is a born storyteller. . . . The pages practically turn themselves."--The Arizona Republic, on Dragonfly in Amber

"Triumphant . . . Her use of historical detail and a truly adult love story confirm Gabaldon as a superior writer."--Publishers Weekly, on Voyager

"Unforgettable characters . . . richly embroidered with historical detail."--The Cincinnati Post, on Drums of Autumn

"A grand adventure written on a canvas that probes the heart, weighs the soul and measures the human spirit across [centuries]."--CNN, on The Fiery Cross

"The large scope of the novel allows Gabaldon to do what she does best, paint in exquisite detail the lives of her characters."--Booklist, on A Breath of Snow and Ashes

"Features all the passion and swashbuckling that fans of this historical fantasy series have come to expect."--People, on Written in My Own Heart's Blood

About the Author

Diana Gabaldon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the wildly popular Outlander novels--Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voy­ager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes (for which she won a Quill Award and the Corine International Book Prize), An Echo in the Bone, Written in My Own Heart's Blood, and Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone--as well as the related Lord John Grey books, Lord John and the Private Matter, Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, Lord John and the Hand of Devils, and The Scottish Prisoner; a collection of novellas, Seven Stones to Stand or Fall; three works of nonfiction, "I Give You My Body . . ." and The Outlandish Com­panion, Volumes 1 and 2; the Outlander graphic novel The Exile; and The Official Outlander Coloring Book. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her husband.