Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall were torn apart by the Jacobite Rising of 1745, and it took them twenty years to find each other again. Now the American Revolution threatens to do the same.

It is 1779 and Claire and Jamie are at last reunited with their daughter, Brianna, her husband, Roger, and their children on Frasers Ridge. Having the family together is a dream the Frasers had thought impossible.

Yet even in the North Carolina backcountry, the effects of war are being felt. Tensions in the Colonies are great and local feelings run hot enough to boil Hells tea-kettle. Jamie knows loyalties among his own tenants are split and the war is on his doorstep. Its only a matter of time before the shooting starts.

Not so far away, young William Ransom is still coming to terms with the discovery of his true fathers identity - and thus his own. Lord John Grey also has reconciliations to make and dangers to meet . . . on his sons behalf, and his own.

Meanwhile, the Southern Colonies blaze, and the Revolution creeps ever closer to Frasers Ridge. And Claire, the physician, wonders how much of the blood to be spilt will belong to those she loves.
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