An Echo in the Bone

by Diana Gabaldon Book 7 in the Outlander series.

First published 2009

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4.6(36,144)

In 1777, Jamie and Claire enter the American Revolutionary War while their relatives are scattered across both sides of the Atlantic. Their path takes them through the Saratoga campaign and towards British-occupied Philadelphia, where family ties cross military and political loyalties. In the twentieth century, Brianna and Roger confront dangers connected to the Fraser family history and to the secret of time travel.

The war scatters the family across different political and temporal fronts. Jamie and Claire experience the Revolution as participants who know some of its future shape but cannot predict every personal consequence, while Brianna and Roger discover that knowledge preserved in documents can itself create danger. The novel repeatedly connects family history with the problem of knowing too much and still being unable to control events.