Drums of Autumn

Throughout Drums of Autumn, Claire, Jamie, and especially Bree must navigate the complicated ties they have with one another while having been born centuries apart. As Bree joins her parents in the North American colonies, the characters discover the challenges and power of family bonds.

At the beginning of the novel, Brianna struggles with ideas about her parents and is unsure about her feelings toward her two fathers, Frank and Jamie. Though Frank raised her, Bree dreams about Jamie and wants to know more about him, speaking to the strength of their bond even before they meet. Similarly, when Bree meets the Murrays at Lallybroch, she feels an immediate connection to this side of her family. She quickly accepts Jenny’s offer to stay at Lallybroch, where she learns how much she has in common with her father and grandmother. As she is leaving Scotland to find her parents in the colonies, Gabaldon describes Bree’s profound emotions, writing, “she had scarcely felt more bereft by her mother’s leaving or her father’s death than by this parting from people and places she had known for so short a time” (677), suggesting that her family ties to Scotland make it home for her.