I’m a hard core romantic, that is no secret. So naturally, I’m always at the look out for good romantic fiction. Each time I Googled ‘best romantic novels’, Outlander is one of the first results that shows up. So it is quite a surprise that I read it so late in my reading life.
One of the reasons for this delay was my skepticism regarding the time travel plot. There is just something about that whole concept made me think it would be very predictable: a person travels to a different time zone, falls in love with someone there, and then has to return to his or her own time, thus the heart break….
How wrong was I…
In the beginning itself, I knew it is a really long novel. I listened to the audio book and that is 20 hours, which Is the longest audiobook narration I have come across. And with long novels, my policy is to never count the pages or check how many chapters are left. I feel, that the mystery of not knowing what will happen next; if there will be a twist in the tale or will the novel end, keeps me hooked.
With Outlander, the plot did begin as I expected. Somebody time travelled. However, beyond that, I had no clue about anything that might happen next. The story is full of characters, and because the author has taken time and space to describe each character, it is fairly easy to keep track of who’s who. In fact, the story is written in such a unique manner, that I didn’t know which characters will fall in love and make this the ‘best romantic novel’, until they actually did. One experience such a chaos of characters and events, and suddenly the spot light focuses on two people and brings them center stage.
Each part of the book is a mini novel in itself. There is a conflict that starts in the beginning and is somewhat resolved by the end of that part, with the characters moving on to another adventure. However, all these separate events are tied together well and it doesn’t feel like the author has added scenes that were not required.
Coming to the romance part, the book has all the necessary elements: passion, conflict, tragic pasts, heart breaking separations and picture perfect reunions. However, unlike many of the other historical romances, this story has much more. The emotions run really deep, the passion comes to a boil slowly (the lovers do not jump on to each other at the first chance they get), and the tragedy and pain is described in such visual detail that it would make the toughest of people wince.
What I found most remarkable and unique about this novel was the gender role equation. Regular romance readers would be well aware that male and female characters in love stories usually adopt one of the two roles: either it is a damsel in distress- knight in shining armor situation, or, thanks to the social pressure on authors to appear feminist, the female is portrayed as a superheroine, who can do everything and doesn’t need any saving. Outlander, may be because of the time in which it was published, breaks away from both these traditions. Yes, there is a super strong man and a quite distressed woman, but they both take turns playing the hero. I mean, this book hasn’t put aside realism to serve feminism. A nurse from mid-20th century England would not know how to wield a sword and so when it comes to fighting, she hides when she is asked to hide. Unlike many of the female protagonists of present day romances who must render at least one blow to the villain. And the man…. I don’t think I have ever read a romance where the man’s virginity is discussed in such a comfortable and normal manner. In present day romances, it is almost like men are born with the knowledge and experience of how to please a woman in bed.
Over all, the saying ‘never judge a book by its cover’ hasn’t proved more true for me as much as it did in this case. I’ll just modify the saying a bit “never judge a book by its synopsis”. I would definitely recommend this book. Not just to romance fanatics. Honestly, had I not known this book was categorized as a romance, I would have not done so myself. There are just so many layers to this story, and the love story is just one of them.
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