An Echo in the Bone

Gabaldon portrays the ancestral Fraser home, Lallybroch, as a symbol of connection across generations and a physical totem of familial identity. Bree and Roger purchase Lallybroch when they return to the 20th century as a means of staying connected to Jamie and Claire and to their Scottish ancestry. Soon after moving in, Roger senses the “echoes of generations murmuring in its walls” (72), and Gabaldon implies that the ancient stone house contains the metaphysical presence of Bree and Roger’s ancestors. Physical proximity to the places their family inhabited inspires an emotional sense of intimacy, comparable to a benevolent haunting. Gabaldon complicates this portrayal by noting that Lallybroch “was a place that had its secrets, too” (72), suggesting the discoveries Bree and Roger will make there about themselves and their history. After living in the house for a time, Bree begins to see “not the albatross of a big, semi-decayed house, but the living organism that was Lallybroch, and all those of her blood who had been a part of it–and still were” (303). As she becomes more established in her life in Scotland, Bree perceives herself in continuity with her ancestors, some part of whom still inhabit her home.

Roger also connects to his sense of self by restoring the ancient chapel on the Lallybroch grounds.