Captain Jack Randall came to Lallybroch and embarrassed Fraser, along with his entire family, leaving Jamie banished from his own estate. While Duncan sees that his friend is holding onto a secret, nothing prepares him when he learns the truth. It’s 1740 and the boys, aged nineteen and twenty respectfully, find themselves out in the world, experiencing all that it has to offer. In it, Fraser and his friend, Ian Duncan, embark on the life of young mercenaries, well away from Scotland. To begin my journey, I chose VIRGINS, a novella penned by Gabaldon years after she made Jamie Fraser a successful protagonist in the Outlander series. Looking at the size of the work at hand, over 13 412 pages (yes, I counted!), I will have my work cut out for me. I have done this (complete series reading in a consecutive fashion) with other collections and find it quite enjoyable.

Additionally, as a captive fan of the series currently airing on television, I want to catch some of the crumbs I may have missed and, reading the entire series back-to-back-to-back etc, I will latch onto some of the smaller characters as they reappear from one book to the next. I want the full Jamie Fraser/Claire Randall experience, peppered with Lord John Grey and all the nuances found therein. Although I’ve read most of the Diana Gabaldon material previously, slowly and methodically, I thought it best to re-read both the Outlander and Lord John series, in chronological rather than publication order.

I have taken the (un)enviable task of embarking on a long and winding literary journey over the next few months.

Virgins diana gabaldon goodreads