Page to Screen: Outlander: Dragonfly in Amber

Page to Screen

The Page to Screen series explores the cinematic adaptations of books and my criticisms of them, comparing the two works and reviewing them separately and as a whole.

Outlander: Dragonfly in Amber (Book/Season 2)

1992, Written by Diana Gabaldon
2016, Developed by by Ronald D. Moore

The book

The Outlander Series is possibly one of my favourite of all time. There are 8 books, I've only read two and a half at time of writing this and I love them. I got into them because of how much I love the TV series, and let me say now, the comparison is great. The series does not disappoint when comparing with the books. Dragonfly In Amber, the second book, is possibly my favourite as it explores things that I find very interesting and this is the book I finished reading fastest.

This post of course contains spoilers for both Dragonfly in Amber and Outlander season 2

Dragonfly in Amber takes us with Jamie and Claire Fraser to France, to the court of King Louis XV, where they are trying to gain influence and befriend the powerful figures in order to prevent the Jacobite uprising. They make a lot of friends, and enemies, on the way, and in the end they find themselves back in Scotland, fighting alongside the clans in order to secure their freedom.
I like this book because it is political, it is in a place and time of history that I love, and the whole feel of it makes me want to travel back in time just to be able to wear some of those dresses. The TV show portrays all of this beautifully and that's why, out of the four so far, it is my favourite.

I mean just look at that dress Source

The way it starts off is clever but confusing. It goes back to 1948, where Claire has reemerged from the stones, she is in a hospital, of course pregnant (as this is where the last book left us), and Frank is of course not happy about it; he knows it's not his. In the book, this scenario continues a while, it is like a sort of prologue, and the first few chapters of the book sum up most of the the first episode, and most of the last episode, of the season. In this 'future' (the 1960s) we meet Claire's daughter, Brianna, supposedly the one with which she was pregnant at the end of book 1, and Roger, the adopted son of the vicar at whose house Frank stayed while looking for Claire back in 1945.

Richard Rankin as Roger Wakefield, Catriona Balfe as Claire Randall and Sophie Skelton as Brianna Randall Source

The reverend Wakefield's funeral is the reason for Claire and Brianna to visit Scotland, and this part of the book sees them exploring the area, Claire revisiting old places and Brianna and Roger discussing history (he is a history professor) and slowly falling in love. At the end of this 'prologue', Claire finds out that Jamie is still alive, he didn't die at the Battle of Culloden and is, in fact, still alive in the 1760s. In the series, the first episode only saw Claire return to Frank, and the last episode explored the story with Brianna and Roger in the 1960s, intertwined with what was happening at Culloden Moor. I like this version, as it's not so confusing, it brings the drama together, and I like that things reflect, like when Claire sees something in particular in the 1960s, we then see it happening in the 1740s. I also love the ending, when we see Claire go back through the stones to her own time, and on the other side of that we see Claire approach the stones to realise that she has to return to the 18th Century.
Another thing about this story is that it is implied that Brianna is the child that Claire was with when they travelled to France, but we don't find out until midway through the story that she miscarries that one and is only in the early stages of pregnancy when she returns to the 1940s. I think this is a good and interesting twist, which is shown in both the series and the book.
Another thing I love in this story is the characters. Besides the ones we already know and love, like Murtaugh, we also meet a host of interesting French characters, like Jamie's cousin Jared, whose house they are living in, Master Raymond, the herbalist who Claire befriends, and Fergus, the young pickpocket found in Prince Charles' favourite brothel, who Jamie hires to steal letters for him. They are all excellently portrayed in the series, just how I would have imagined them even if I'd read the book first. Master Raymond is cheeky, funny and very intelligent, and Fergus is all round an adorable and brave boy.

Sam Heughan as Jamie and Romann Berrux as Fergus Source

I also like the characters at l'Hôpital des Anges where Claire works in Paris, like the dog, Bouton, who sniffs out peoples' ailments, and Mary, who becomes very important later on. All in all the characters from the book that made it into the series are very well presented and I enjoyed both reading about and watching them on the screen.
The main thing I love about this series is the setting. I loved reading about it but there is something you cannot get from simply reading the book, and that is the stunning visuals. The production design of this series is magnificent, the decor and the settings, big French Chateaux like Versailles, beautiful gardens, and, more than anything else, the fashion. The dresses are exquisite and they add an extra something to the story for me, just reading it I could never have imagined something as beautiful as this.

An example of the amazing design Source

So much happens in this story, it is a long one so I won't go into much detail, but everything that happens in France happens according to the book, as does most of what happens when they return to Scotland. There are a few events in Scotland leading up to Culloden which don't happen in the series, and some of what happens in that time is in a different order to how it happens in the book.
The thing I liked about the war story is how certain things remind Claire of being in World War Two. In the book it is interesting as she has flashbacks, but it is more dramatic and makes us understand her more in the series, when we can hear the cannons and suddenly we're in the middle of a different war, having PTSD with Claire. In the end, we find out she is pregnant again, she promises Jamie to name the child after his father, Brian (hence Brianna), and we feel Claire's pain of having to leave her husband to die in battle. One thing I loved that happened in the book and not the series was that, before she left, Claire carved a J into her hand, and Jamie a C, something that would stay with them forever.

Claire and Jamie before she returns to her own time Source

I love this book not just because of what I've already mentioned, but also because it carries on the same tone as the previous one, I love seeing Claire and Jamie fall more in love, trust each other more, and seeing Jamie fight a duel (against Jack Randall, who didn't die at Wentworth like we thought!) and Claire want to stop him and save him. There are struggles in their relationship in this book, but they get through it and that's what I love about them. The ending of the book is equally heart-wrenching to that of the season, and it leaves you desperate to get to the next one; to find out if Claire will find her Jamie.

If you haven't started watching/reading already, please, do it for them:

Fergus and Bouton

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