The book sorters at the Detroit Free Press took one look at Diana Gabaldon's "The Fiery Cross" (Delacorte, $27.95) and put it in with the serious novels. At 979 pages, with its sober, tasteful cover, it didn't look like the fifth of a best-selling series of time-travel romances.
Actually, that was a good call, for Gabaldon's sprawling sagas are really historical novels with enormous heart. Together, they make up a vivid, incredibly detailed portrait of the late 18th century. Gabaldon, who has a doctorate in ecology, is as much historian as romance writer. There's a textbook here just on herbs.
Claire, the time-traveling World War II nurse, and Jamie Fraser, her Highland hero, are grandparents now. After wild adventures in England, Scotland, France and the Indies, they've settled on a mountain in North Carolina, very much like the Highlands. Claire is the local healer and Jamie has gone effortlessly from "Braveheart" to Davy Crockett, revered even among the local Indians for his bear-hunting prowess.
It's another kind of conflict they're facing now. It's 1771, and they are being drawn into the increasing unrest. After years of futile resistance to the British in Scotland, including a long stretch in prison, Jamie's not going to miss the fight especially because he knows that this time, our side will win.
Claire, though, can tell only who won the war, not how the Frasers fared in it. Ironically, she was never good at history; she's stockpiling tea because she can't remember when the Boston Tea Party will happen.
Not in this book, for sure; Gabaldon had to cut "The Fiery Cross" in half and save the Revolutionary War finale for the next book. The way Gabaldon writes, a big day can take 164 pages, as does the first day of "Fiery Cross" the long-awaited wedding day of daughter Bree. But after the slow start, there's a rip-roaring second half. Murders to solve. The lost gold of Bonnie Prince Charlie to find. Pirates to stop. The secret of time travel to discover.
Meanwhile, a lot of North Carolina rebels against the British. Gabaldon is at her best when she is writing about a real moment in history and the romance that surrounds it. That, above all, is what keeps readers coming back for more Gabaldon.
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