An Echo in the Bone

An Echo in the Bone features many literal and metaphorical echoes: shared temperaments and physical traits within families, locations at Lallybroch that are used for similar purposes over centuries, repeated dynamics within family relationships, and more. Through these echoes across generations, Gabaldon investigates how memory shapes identity, especially through the influence of home and family. Throughout the novel, family memories allow characters to feel closer to one another and to understand themselves better.

When Claire and Jamie insist that Ian accompany them to Scotland, Ian shares how “Brianna once told me about a book […] that said ye can’t go home again. I think that’s maybe true—but I want to” (135). Ian’s anxiety results from associating the idea of home with who he was when he last lived there. Knowing that he has changed drastically from the teenage boy who left Scotland, Ian worries that he no longer has a place at Lallybroch—and by extension that he no longer has a home. Quoting the poet Robert Frost, Claire reminds Ian: “Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in” (136). Frost’s words dislocate the notion of home from a particular place and create a notion of home that is based on relationships.