Diana Gabaldon’s ‘Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone’: Worth the wait?

There’s nae doubt that legions of readers will be raising a wee dram or two to celebrate publication of “Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone,” the latest installment of Diana Gabaldon’s sweeping Outlander saga. The series began with the eponymous novel in 1991, followed by eight sequels (including this one), four related novels and several novellas and short stories, adding up to over 12,000 pages. There’s also a graphic novel and a musical, but who’s counting?

Newcomers to the ongoing story, along with those only familiar with the hugely successful TV series (Season 6 will air next year), might be forgiven for sneaking an extra tot of single malt to fortify them for the new book, which clocks in at 928 pages. The title references an old Celtic custom of telling bees important family news — a death, birth, marriage — so that they can carry it to the next hive or swarm. In this case, the bees might also bear word of murders, kidnappings, unexpected births, betrayals or numerous deceits, along with an ordination and some casual blackmail, just to liven things up.

The novel opens in the summer of 1779, on Fraser’s Ridge in the American North Carolina Colony. Jamie Fraser, Highland Scot and paterfamilias of a large and complexly related clan, has settled there with his time-traveling wife, Claire. Claire is an outlander (a stranger) from the mid-20th century who, after many years living in the 17th century, has mostly adapted to life among folks unfamiliar with penicillin, automobiles or Dr. Seuss. A World War II British Army nurse, Claire now uses her skills as a healer to tend to the many residents of Fraser’s Ridge. These include Brianna, her daughter fathered by Jamie but raised in the 20th century by Claire and her former husband, as well as Brianna’s husband, Roger, and their children, additional outliers from the future. The extended Fraser clan also includes children born out of wedlock, stepchildren, adopted children (and adults), along with lovers and spouses acquired in the decades since Jamie and Claire first met. The book contains three Outlander family trees, which are somewhat helpful.

Still, it’s been seven years since Gabaldon’s previous novel: even hardcore fans may feel as though they’ve been thrown into the midst of a huge family reunion, only half-recalling who’s who and why they should remember them. The first few hundred pages of “Go Tell the Bees,” while welltold, move slowly, as Gabaldon reacquaints us with not just Claire and Jamie but their far-flung network of family, friends and frenemies, some of them now on opposing sides of the U.S. War of Independence. A new name or character is introduced on almost every page, and few escape without a backstory.