Oct. 26, 2009 - An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

The detailed description of events, characters and places in Diana Gabaldon's novels helps the reader to visualize what is taking place - sometimes too effectively. I just finished reading a section describing Claire performing surgery on Jamie's hand. The vivid description of the joints, muscles, tendons and inner parts of the hand as well as the intricate surgical tools and techniques used during the surgery were so well depicted, I felt queasy just reading about it.  "Detach the underlying muscle with as little damage as could be managed. Tie off the small digital artery and two other vessels that seemed large enough to bother with, sever the last few fibers and shreds of skin that held the finger, then lift it free, the dangling metacarpal surprisingly white and naked, like a rat's tail." This type of description of war and surgery and hunting, among other things, is typical of Diana Gabaldon's writing. Not a novel for the faint of heart or stomach.