The Fiery Cross

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon, 1443 pages

The fifth book in Gabaldon's Outlander series finds WWII nurse Claire and her 18th-century Highlander husband Jamie settled in the Carolinas in 1771. (Feel free to read that sentence over a few times until it makes sense.) Having traveled from the 20th Century, Claire is well aware of what will happen to the colonies in a few years time, so the overarching plot of life on the homestead and raising families (as well as some intrigue) is set against the rising tensions between the colonies and England.

This series has been repeatedly categorized as romance (Goodreads readers even voted the eighth book, Written in My Own Heart's Blood, as the best romance novel of 2014), probably because of the overarching love story between Claire and Jamie. Perhaps it's just because I don't typically read romance novels, but given the historical accuracy, the battles, the time-traveling, and the somewhat gross descriptions of injuries and medical procedures, I'd hesitate to put any category on Gabaldon's books. They're good books. Period. I'd recommend them to fans of historical fiction.