The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
The Scottish Prisoner is a masterwork of grand history, evil treachery, and unforgivable grudges. 1760 in London The life of a former prisoner of war Jamie Fraser is disintegrating before his eyes. Jamie’s calm existence in the isolated Lake District, where he is sufficiently close to the son he cannot claim as his own, is first disturbed by dreams of his missing wife, then by the appearance of an ex-comrade still working to unite the Irish.
Jamie, however, has sworn off politics, conflict, and violence. That is until Lord John Grey appears with a summons that will once more separate him from everything he cherishes. Explosive documents that reveal a damaging corruption case against a British officer are in Lord John’s possession. However, they also allude to a subtler threat. Soon, Lord John and Jamie find themselves travelling together against their will to Ireland, a place where bogs are home to the remains of the dead and where gloomy castles conceal horrifying secrets.
The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
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The third book in the Lord John series is technically The Scottish Prisoner. It should be mentioned that it is a mid-novel in the Outlander series. The two primary protagonists in this tale are John and Jamie Fraser. Together, two essentially alone men who have had their friendships destroyed by carelessness attempt to put an end to yet another Jacobite uprising. Jamie, an indentured servant in the Lake District who believes that the 1745 revolt was one too many and as a result lost everything except his life, is brought to London to help Lord John Grey solve the riddle of a doggerel song written in Irish Gaelic. Their relationship is repaired while travelling. Although Claire is absent from this novel, Jamie is constantly thinking about her, which influences many of his choices.
A major subject in this book is Lord John’s desire for a close, romantic relationship with Jamie. The Pessoa quote mentioned above, in my opinion, perfectly captures his personal torment. John will never fulfil his greatest dream due to the circumstances, his family and social standing, his duties as a British military officer, and Jamie’s personal preferences. In his capacity as simply Jamie’s buddy, he is left all alone in that “sad dusk.” The fact that he is a guy yearning for the love of another man makes no difference in the long run; his inner thoughts are every bit as powerful as those you would find in any Jane Austen work.
In an extremely odd way, his sense of loneliness and longing for Claire is evident right away and is a recurrent theme throughout the entire book. It hurts to read about the tension between his loyalty to his companions, his certain understanding of how the preparations to spark another Jacobite revolt would turn out, and the decisions he must make. You can gain a much deeper insight into Jamie if you combine all of that with his growing love for his son William and the realization that he will never play a significant role in his life.
