Drums of Autumn

Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Randall Fraser is the protagonist and occasional narrator of the Outlander series. In the 20th century she was the wife of Frank Randall and the mother of Brianna. In the 18th century, she is the wife of Jamie Fraser.

In Drums of Autumn, Claire is once again living with Jamie in the 18th century. While earlier books in the series focused on her difficulties adjusting to life in Scotland, Drums of Autumn gives Claire yet another new start, this time in the British North American colonies in the years leading up to the American Revolution. Throughout the novel, Claire must continue to wrestle with the differences between being a 20th-century woman and an 18th-century one. While she enjoys a certain degree of social standing thanks to her abilities as a healer—an especially rare and important service among the white colonizers in the new colonies—she knows that her gender leaves her vulnerable to discrimination. She is aware that, socially, her word always carries less weight than Jamie’s, but this does not stop her from speaking her mind when she needs to: She speaks out against the violent displacement of the Indigenous tribes and against the enslavement of Black Americans, and tells Jamie she will perform a pregnancy termination for Brianna if Brianna decides to have one.