Drums of Autumn is the fourth book in the Outlander series, written by Diana Gabaldon. The stories center around a time-travelling 20th century doctor (Claire Fraser) and her 18th century Scottish husband (Jamie Fraser), and are located in Scotland, France, and America.
The heroine of the bestselling Outlander, Claire, returns in Drums of Autumn, reunited with her husband Jamie Fraser and facing a new life in the American colonies. As the preceding novel, Voyager, concluded with Jamie Fraser and his wife Claire shipwrecked on the Georgia coastline—and happy to be out of Scotland—Drums of Autumn picks up where Voyager left off. Brianna Ellen Randall and her suitor, historian Roger Wakefield, remain safely ensconced in the 20th century. Now orphaned by her mother's departure to the past, Brianna struggles to accept her loss and satisfy her curiosity about a father she has never met, only to discover a tragic piece of "history" that threatens her parents' happiness in the past. This discovery sends Brianna back through time on a mission to save her parents and sends Roger after her.
Famous quotes containing the words drums and/or autumn:
“With drums and guns, and guns and drums
The enemy nearly slew ye,
My darling dear, you look so queer,
Och, Johnny, I hardly knew ye!”
—Unknown. Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye (l. Chorus.)
“He is no longer a city dweller who has even once in his life caught a ruff or seen how, on clear and cool autumn days, flocks of migrating thrushes drift over a village. Until his death he will be drawn to freedom.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)