The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [108]
4M. Forez is a real historical personage; his association with the Fifth Arrondissement is fictional, since in fact I am not positive that Paris had adopted the Arrondissement system of administration at the time in question.
5The Comte St. Germain was a real historical character, an inhabitant of Paris at roughly the time of the story told in Dragonfly. The Comte had a sinister reputation, and was rumored to be heavily involved in the occult, but there is very little definite information available regarding him.
6This name was given to me, courtesy of Barry Fogden, who having graciously allowed me to use his own persona, let me snatch his alias, as well
7While Mr. Linklater is unfortunately not a personal friend (I’ve never met him), he definitely is a real person, and a fairly contemporary person, at that. He is the author of The Prince in the Heather, from which the quote about the Jacobite officers in the farmhouse near Culloden was taken (“After the final battle at Culloden, eighteen Jacobite officers, all wounded, took refuge in the old house and for two days, their wounds untended, lay in pain; then they were taken out to be shot. One of them, a Fraser of the Master of Lovat’s regiment, escaped the slaughter; the others were buried at the edge of the domestic park”).
8Also, alas, not a personal acquaintance of mine— but definitely contemporary.
9While created as a purely fictional character, a Duncan MacDonald (of the Master of Lovat’s regiment) did in fact die at Culloden, as I discovered some time after writing Voyager.
10Also known disparagingly as “Loghead” or “Leg-hair,” by various readers who disapprove of the lady.
11Now and then, a French-speaking reader inquires whether I was aware that this translates to “Mr. Grapefruit.” Yes, I was.
12Harry Quarry appears again, along with Lord John, in the first solo short story (well relatively short; it’s only eleven thousand words or so) I ever wrote professionally. This is a story titled “Hellfire,” which I wrote for an anthology titled Past Poisons: The Ellis Peters Memorial Anthology of Historical Crime published by the U.K. publisher, Headline, in December 1998. While this story is not, strictly speaking, part of the Outlander novels (it doesn’t deal with Claire or Jamie Fraser, though Jamie is mentioned indirectly), it is part of the overall oeuvre.
13By coincidence, my fifth-grade teacher was also named Sister Marie Romaine. Requiescat in pace.
14The founder of the great Rothschild fortune was indeed a traveling numismatist during the latter part of the eighteenth century, but my representation of his age and appearance during this period is fictional, based on general notions of European dress at the time. The history of the Rothschild name is fact, though—or at least is so represented in historical sources.
15I do in fact occasionally take things out of a book. I don’t, however, throw them away, since you never know when something will come in handy. The scene in which Jamie and Claire meet Mayer Rothschild was originally written as part of Dragonfly in Amber, but I removed it, feeling that, while it was a good scene, it wasn’t really necessary to the book. As it was, the scene fit much better—with the small addition of the gold tetradrachms—into Voyager, where it finally appeared.
16The Simpsons, famous swordsmiths, were in fact historical persons of the period. By coincidence, my friend John E. Simpson, who kindly allowed me to use his persona, is also a Jr.
17Coincidentally, this is also the name, rearranged, of a popular mystery novelist whose books I happened to see while writing the scene involving the victims of stone circles. The subconscious is a strange and wonderful thing.
I GET LETTERS …
ince the Outlander novels were first published, I’ve received any amount of mail and other manifestations of interest from readers who find themselves fascinated by the characters, particularly by Claire and Jamie Fraser. By “other manifestations,