The Outlander

I've been listening to a lot of CBC Radio and caught this year's rendition ofCanada Reads, and of course they had a book I'd read already (Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill) so I'd like to make my way through that list too. I wasn't sure about The Outlander, from the beginning I was uncomfortable with the the main character, the narrative seemed so disconnected from her, or she was so disconnected to herself. As the novel journeyed through the wilds of the Canadian Rockies I found myself as lost as the heroine, where was she from why was she there, where was there... and I came to the realization that as hard as it was to read at points it was exactly the way the character felt, sort of lost to the wind, not quite bound to anything in the physical or emotional, perhaps lost or never had in the first place to lose. there were times when I shook my head while reading, what a dumb thing for her character to do, and at other times it was her protagonists who were unfair in their actions. I ended up enjoying this book, the main character forced her way out of her situation, and probably made choices to removes herself from a relationship that made her unhappy, not exactly the same choices I'd have made in their extremities, but possibly necessary in the time the story took place.