An Echo in the Bone

Claire’s beloved red-haired husband Jamie Fraser is one of the series’ secondary protagonists. An ex-Jacobite, pardoned criminal, and American rebel, Jamie is the biological father of Brianna “Bree” MacKenzie and William Ransom, the adopted father of Fergus Fraser, and stepfather to Marsali Fraser and her sister Joan. Jamie is fiercely protective of his loved ones, especially Claire, and has a keen sense of spousal and filial responsibility. Claire notes: “Idealism quite aside—and he did have some, though of a very pragmatic sort [… Jamie] was a proper man, and thus required to have proper work. Not just labor; not just making a living. Work” (40). Jamie’s sense of self and purpose is directly related to his ability to take care of his family and contribute to meaningful progress in his community. Although Jamie supports the prescriptive gender norms of his time, Jamie deeply respects his wife and daughter and grows to acknowledge their agency.

Jamie attempts to reconcile his duty to his family with his ideals and adventurous spirit, a dynamic that defines his character in earlier novels in the series. Estranged from his biological son and prevented from seeing his own father’s death, Jamie fears that he will be forgotten by Bree’s children in the 20th century. During the battles after Fort Ticonderoga, Jamie also fears harming William—both physically and by revealing William’s true parentage. When Claire must return to Philadelphia without him, Jamie’s loyalties become divided, as he can no longer serve all his loved ones simultaneously. However, Jamie’s faith in his and Claire’s enduring love empowers him to make amends with Laoghaire, his ex-wife, and his sister Jenny, which allows him to accept his distance from Bree. Ultimately, Jamie’s bravery, resourcefulness, and tenacity empower him to maintain correspondence with the future, no matter how futile it feels, acknowledge William as his son, and to return to Claire as promised.

Ian Murray is another secondary protagonist and Claire and Jamie’s nephew. Ian left Lallybroch as a teenager to travel with Jamie, and their adventures took him to America where Ian lived for a time with a Mohawk tribe. Ian left the Mohawk after his marriage to a Mohawk woman, Emily, ended over their inability to have children. However, Ian still considers himself a Mohawk man and wears Mohawk dress. Ian is devoted to his dog Rollo, who is mostly wolf.

Ian struggles to reconcile his new identity with his Scottish roots and desire for family. On the road to Wilmington, Ian wonders “whether he might find a wife in Scotland. He couldn’t. Could he?” (175). Ian harbors extreme guilt and grief over his failed marriage and stillborn daughter, worsened by his part in the death of Murdina Bug. Ian makes two visits that help him heal and embrace his identity. Ian’s visit to Emily and her children allows him to achieve closure in their relationship and prepares his heart for romance with Rachel Hunter. Ian’s visit home to Lallybroch allows him to gain acknowledgement from his parents as a man and reconciles his new and earlier identities by assuring him he will always have a place at Lallybroch. At the end of the novel, Ian tells Rachel “I know what I am [...] and I think ye wouldna want me to […] pretend to be something I canna be” (1148). Because Ian is true to himself, he gains the love of a woman who accepts him for who he really is.

Bree and Roger are the protagonists of the 1980 storyline, as they navigate the dangers of both the past and present. Bree is Claire and Jamie’s daughter, a “fabulous and dangerous creature” who bears a striking resemblance to her red-haired father (17). Roger, her husband, is a historian and musician who also comes from a time traveling lineage; he is the descendant of Jamie’s uncle and Geillis Duncan, a pagan and Scottish nationalist from the 1960s. Both born in the 20th century, Roger and Bree time traveled to warn Claire and Jamie of their reported death by fire. Bree and Roger each had traumatic experiences in the 18th century: Bree was sexually assaulted, and Roger was nearly hanged to death. They healed together, married, and started a family at Fraser’s Ridge before returning to the 20th century so their daughter, Mandy, could have a life-saving surgery.

Bree and Roger struggle to adapt back to modern life. Bree is frustrated by Roger’s new crisis of faith. She throws herself into work, taking a job at the hydroelectric company while Roger regains his sense of self by connecting to the history of Lallybroch and the community. Bree misses her parents and wonders if the 20th century is really as safe as it seems, encountering sexism at work and disturbed by her children reporting a “Nuckelavee” at Lallybroch. Like Claire and Jamie, Bree and Roger often rely on the strength of their bond and love of their family to navigate tensions in their marriage and individual lives. As Roger and Bree successfully establish their new roles in the community of Inverness-shire, Rob Cameron, Bree’s coworker, emerges as the primary antagonist of their story. Rob abducts their young son Jem and motivates an external rather than internal conflict for Bree and Roger to navigate in the next book in the series. For Roger, the sudden appearance of his ancestor William “Buck” MacKenzie also motivates him to finally confront his fraught family history.