An Echo in the Bone - Diana Gabaldon

[goodreads]

Title: An Echo in the Bone
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Historical romance
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 824
Date read: July, 2011

Jamie Fraser, erstwhile Jacobite and reluctant rebel, knows three things about the American rebellion: the Americans will win, unlikely as that seems in 1778; being on the winning side is no guarantee of survival; and he'd rather die than face his illegitimate son - a young lieutenant in the British Army - across the barrel of a gun. Fraser's time-travelling wife, Claire, also knows a couple of things: that the Americans will win, but that the ultimate price of victory is a mystery. What she does believe is that the price won't include Jamie's life or happiness - not if she has anything to say.

Claire's grown daughter Brianna, and her husband, Roger, watch the unfolding of Brianna's parents' history - a past that may be sneaking up behind their own family.

Long book is LONG! Worth it though. I'd have to say that this is probably better than both book 5 and 6. Wasn't quite as heart wrenching, and for once Gabaldon gave her characters a bit of a break. Not much though... otherwise it wouldn't be her!

One of the weaknesses of the later books is that Gabaldon tries to tell the story from too many different characters' viewpoint, and the reader will invariably be more interested in some story lines than others. Personally I loved Claire, Jamie and Ian's, liked Brianna and Roger's and only cared slightly for Lord John Grey's and William's. I did warm up to the latter though, and loved the way they all connected in the end.

I did think that this book ended with quite the cliffhanger... more than any of the others. Can't wait to read the next one, which I think I've heard may also be the last one? Can anybody confirm or deny this?