Remember those cheap little 'Historical romances' you could buy in any dime store or highway stop? My mom used to collect those. I think she had a box full of them and they always intrigued me enormously. When I finally scrambled enough courage together to steal one of those books (I can remember the cover so well.. a bare chested long-haired man holding a redhead in what seemed to be an awkward embrace) my prepubescent mind was hooked. I managed to read quite a few of them before I was caught and I think they are probably responsible for my image of what love and sex could be.
Still.. I don't think it was so bad growing up believing there to be a man to sweep me away.
By now I'm grown up, married (he sweeped me a little ;) ) and I know they're novels for a reason. I've grown out of these by a good dozen years already and I think that even my mother has donated that box of 'stimulating prose' to some good cause.
Which brings me to Outlander which was a nostalgic trip to my childhood. Not in the literal sense, since than I must be a couple of hundred years because it mainly sets in late 18th century, but its historical setting, plus the romance between Claire and Jamie was as I remembered reading all those years ago. Stimulating.
It wasn't all too bad. The setting was nicely done, the time travel skillfully incorporated in the story and the main character were both lovable. What I remember mostly about those little pockets were the reluctance of the women to do the bidding of the man, despite their own attraction. Claire did not have those scruples.
She was a married woman when crossing time for a good 200 years and despite a few attempts in getting back, she ultimately gave in quickly to the redheaded god named Jamie. He's painted a picture-perfect Adonis and it actually made him cheap.
Their whole romance was a bit over the top which made it hard to believe although it's fun reading through it.
I actually tried my hands at this novel, because we visited Scotland this summer and someone mentioned the show on Netflix. It got my 'spidey' sense tingling and I think I expected more. Now that I read the novel, I'm going to try the show on Netflix. I wonder how they managed to make this story more than just a steaming hot fling between a time traveler and a Scottish laird.
Ultimately I wasn't all that impressed, even though she has done her research. If Claire and Jamie hadn't had such an inconceivable connection, she might have not had to wait so long to get the acclaim she does now.
