Drums of Autumn

“Some people tried to preserve the past; others, to escape it. And that was by far the greatest gulf between herself and Roger. Why hadn’t she seen it before?”

Brianna thinks this while she and Roger are at the Celtic festival and she is grappling with the recent changes in her life. What Bree knows of her past was completely altered when Claire told her about her real father, and while Bree wants to ignore all thoughts of her parents and move on with that part of her life, Roger’s role as a historian continues to remind her of the past. This quote also foreshadows Roger’s attempts later in the novel to preserve the past, while Bree will try to change it.

“Despite the expense and difficulty of the journey, despite the pain of parting from friends and family and homeland forever, the immigrants poured in, in hundreds and in thousands, carrying their children—those who survived the voyage—and their possessions in small, ragged bundles; fleeing poverty and hopelessness, seeking not fortune but only a small foothold on life. Only a chance.”

Claire thinks this as she considers all of the immigrants who have come to the colonies from Europe. While she does not relate to these people, having left Scotland and landed in the colonies involuntarily and at a greater disadvantage than she started, she knows their history and how important immigrants are to founding and carrying the country. Roger echoes similar sentiments as he travels from Scotland to the colonies later in the novel.

“‘What kind of law is it that condemns a man—’ ‘A slave—’ ‘A man! Condemns him without a trial, without even an investigation? What sort of law is that?’ ‘A bad one, madame!’ he snapped. ‘But it is still the law, and I am charged with its fulfillment.’”

This exchange between Claire and Campbell occurs when she discovers the law of bloodshed and how it will be applied to one of the enslaved men on the plantation. Campbell’s interjection that an enslaved person is not a man, and Claire’s