The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [212]
How then, to impart the truth—safely, after he is dead—and still without letting Claire or Bree know that he had withheld this knowledge from them?
He hits upon the idea of the false gravestone, placed near his own kinsman’s. Brianna has always been interested in history, has helped him with his own work, knows about Jack Randall. If she thinks of Frank much after his demise, chances are good that eventually she will go looking for Jack Randall’s resting place—as indeed she does. IF she then finds the false grave, and tells her mother… well, then it will be up to Claire to tell her daughter the truth. Brianna will learn who her father really is, thus satisfying Frank’s feeling of obligation to her and to the truth—and at the same time, will never know that Frank had kept the knowledge from her.
This is not a completely honest method, and Frank knows that; still, it’s the most he can bring himself to do, under the circumstances. He does, however, feel the need to confess what he’s done—and why—and chooses to tell the Reverend, whom he knows will keep his secrets.
So that’s what’s behind Frank’s letter, and why he did what he did. What Roger—and Jamie—choose to do with the knowledge… well, that’s their moral dilemma. It’s worth noting, maybe, that Jamie has no hesitation in choosing to tell Claire everything, trusting that the knowledge will not damage her love for him. Frank had no such assurance.
Q: Are any of the fictional characters based on real historical figures?
A: Yes, several of them are. Hard to write about the ’45 without mentioning Charles Stuart, after all.
Beyond that—there’s a “real” female witch (late sixteenth century) named Geilis Duncane in Daemonologie, a treatise on witches by King James of Scotland (later James I of England…). The book is about the trial of a coven of witches who James believed tried to assassinate him via black magic (you know how women are always teaming up with the devil to do things like that). I figured anybody up on Scottish witchcraft would know the name, and for anyone who wasn’t, it didn’t matter.
It is, of course, not Outlander’s witch’s real name—we meet her in Dragonfly under (what we suppose is) her original name of Gillian–she took Geillis deliberately as a name because of the original, whom she of course was familiar with, owing to her researches into witchcraft. We’ll hear a bit more of this when Roger finds his ancestress’s grimoire.
Jack Randall is not real—so far as I know, anyway.
Now, Mother Hildegarde was a real historical person, though she lived in the twelfth century, rather than the eighteenth. Likewise, Monsieur Forez, the hangman of Dragonfly, was a real public hangman in the Paris of the eighteenth century. Bonnie Prince Charlie and many of the Jacobite lords were naturally real people, as well. (See Part Two, “Characters.”)
Q: Who is the ghost in Outlander?
A: The ghost is Jamie—but as to exactly how his appearance fits into the story, All Will Be Explained—in the last book of the series.
Q: How is Sassenach pronounced?
A: SASS-uh-nak. It’s actually a little guttural on the end, a bit like the German “ach,” but not quite so throaty. That’s close, though. I asked a kilt salesman I met at a Highland Games, and his pronunciation was later verified by assorted Scots.
Q: Have you ever thought of writing children’s books?
A: I included this question because people really do ask it of me quite often, but I haven’t the faintest idea why. Do I look like someone with a deep-seated urge to write children’s books? Does something in what I do write suggest to these questioners that I am currently in the wrong line of work? Whatever the reasons behind the question, though, I’m afraid the answer is no, I can’t say I ever have had any particular desire to write children’s books—though several years ago, one of the neighborhood children down the street asked me if I would someday write a book for him. I said dubiously that I supposed I might try, though I couldn’t say how long it might take. He asked what the book would be called, whereupon I told him