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Book Summary and Reviews of Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone

A Novel (Outlander)

by Diana Gabaldon

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  • Published:
  • Nov 2021, 928 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The past may seem the safest place to be ... but it is the most dangerous time to be alive... .

Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall were torn apart by the Jacobite Rising in 1746, and it took them twenty years to find each other again. Now the American Revolution threatens to do the same.

It is 1779 and Claire and Jamie are at last reunited with their daughter, Brianna, her husband, Roger, and their children on Fraser's Ridge. Having the family together is a dream the Frasers had thought impossible.

Yet even in the North Carolina backcountry, the effects of war are being felt. Tensions in the Colonies are great and local feelings run hot enough to boil Hell's teakettle. Jamie knows loyalties among his tenants are split and it won't be long until the war is on his doorstep.

Brianna and Roger have their own worry: that the dangers that provoked their escape from the twentieth century might catch up to them. Sometimes they question whether risking the perils of the 1700s—among them disease, starvation, and an impending war—was indeed the safer choice for their family.

Not so far away, young William Ransom is still coming to terms with the discovery of his true father's identity—and thus his own—and Lord John Grey has reconciliations to make, and dangers to meet ... on his son's behalf, and his own.

Meanwhile, the Revolutionary War creeps ever closer to Fraser's Ridge. And with the family finally together, Jamie and Claire have more at stake than ever before.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Gabaldon's vast and sweeping account of the Revolutionary War is so intricately plotted and peopled that one is amazed she could conceive and write it in only seven years. Despite its scope, many of the finest moments are small ones, especially those that depict Claire and Jamie's enduring love and passion as they enter their 60s. Readers may find themselves choking up as the book nears its cliffhanger ending. It may be another seven years before the next and final Outlander volume, but I'm betting it will be worth the wait." - The Washington Post, Elizabeth Hand

This information about Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Cathryn Conroy

"Outlander" Is My Bookish Guilty Pleasure: And No. 9 in This Monumental Series Is Fabulous!
The "Outlander" series is my bookish guilty pleasure. What a delight! Although each of these nine books is very well written by master storyteller Diana Gabaldon, there is minimal literary value. It's all about suspending your sense of reality and just going with the impossible, coincidence-laden, very romantic, and very sexy time travel storyline. Oh, and enjoy every minute!

This is the ninth in the series, and the books must be read in order for two reasons. If you skip around, you won't understand the continuing plot developments, which build on what happened previously. Worse, there will be spoilers. Begin with "Outlander: A Novel" and proceed from there.

The basic premise is that in 1945, war nurse Claire Randall was wandering in the Scottish Highlands and accidentally traveled through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles and ended up marooned in 1743 with nothing but her wits to survive. She meets and falls passionately in love with Jamie Fraser. And the story moves on from there…

In book No. 9, it's 1779 and Claire and Jamie have returned from Philadelphia to Fraser's Ridge, North Carolina. Much to their surprise and delight, Claire and Jamie's daughter, Brianna, her husband, Roger, and their two children, Jem and Mandy, travel back in time and join them with a harrowing story to tell. Life is unsettled as the Revolutionary War comes to the Southern states, and all residents must choose sides to back the rebels or the king. This naturally pits neighbor against neighbor, and Fraser's Ridge is no exception. There are multiple plotlines in this novel—so many it's a little dizzying. Bri and Roger head south to Charles Town and Savannah at Lord John's request and decide to do something dangerous and illegal on the way. Ian and Rachel head north to New York state to check on Ian's first wife, a Mohawk Indian. William Ransom, Jamie's son and Brianna's half-brother, shows up in Savannah, with dire news. Of course, the plot points all come together in the end, leaving a nice cliffhanger for the next novel in the series. (And presumably there will be one, as Diana Gabaldon has repeatedly promised to make the story come full circle with an important scene that happened very early in the first "Outlander" book in which Frank Randall sees the specter of Jamie Fraser dressed in full Scottish regalia.)

This book has it all—heroes and villains, and one villain who will knock your socks off (so pay attention!), extraordinary plot twists that keep you reading late into the night, colorful descriptions that place you in the middle of the action, complex and interesting characters, and sex. Lots of sex.

The "Outlander" series of books is the ultimate reality escape. They are long books with convoluted, not-quite-believable but ingenious plots, and are an absolute delight to read.

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Author Information

Diana Gabaldon Author Biography

Diana Gabaldon is the author of the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling Outlander novels.

The series is published in 26 countries and 23 languages, and includes a nonfiction companion volume, The Outlandish Companion, which provides details on the settings, background, characters, research, and writing of the novels. Gabaldon has also written several books in a sub-series featuring Lord John Grey (a major minor character from the main series): Lord John and the Private Matter, Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, Lord John and the Hand of Devils, and Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner.

Returning to her comic-book roots, she has also written a graphic novel titled The Exile. The graphic novel is illustrated by Hoang Nguyen, and published by Del-Rey.

Gabaldon is presently...

... Full Biography
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Name Pronunciation
Diana Gabaldon: gabble-dn

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