Voyager, published in 1993, is the third book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. The story follows Claire Randall, a 20th-century doctor who travels through time, and her husband, Jamie Fraser, an 18th-century Scottish warrior. The books include historical fiction, romance, adventure, and fantasy.

Claire, the main character from the popular book Outlander (1991), returns in Voyager as a mother to Brianna Randall. She lives in Boston in 1968. The previous book, Dragonfly in Amber (1992), ended with Claire and Brianna learning that Jamie Fraser is Brianna's real father and that Claire can travel through time.

In Voyager, Claire and Brianna learn about Jamie's life after the Battle of Culloden during the Jacobite uprising in 1745. Finding out that Jamie survived the massacre that marked the start of the destruction of many Scottish clans makes Claire return to the stone circle that sent her through time twenty years earlier.

Plot summary

The story begins at the Battle of Culloden, where Jamie Fraser is seriously injured, and his enemy, Jack Randall, is killed. Jamie is taken to a farmhouse nearby where 18 Jacobite soldiers have hidden after the battle. Harold Grey, Earl of Melton, arrives as a representative of the Duke of Cumberland and announces that the survivors will be executed. Each man is taken outside one by one, and Melton records their names. When it is Jamie’s turn, Melton recognizes him as the famous Jacobite “Red Jamie.” However, Melton is told he cannot execute Jamie because Jamie once spared Melton’s younger brother, Lord John Grey, during the Battle of Prestonpans. Jamie is sent home to die from his injuries.

When government soldiers search for Jacobite soldiers, Jamie hides in a cave near Lallybroch. He visits his sister, Jenny, and her family once a month to shave, wash, and learn news. Jamie uses a legal document called a deed of sasine to transfer ownership of Lallybroch to Jenny’s eldest son, also named Jamie, to protect the property from being taken by the government. Jamie wears a brown wool cap to hide his red hair and becomes known as the “Dunbonnet,” a Scottish legend. He arranges to be captured so his tenants can claim a reward and avoid famine. At Ardsmuir Prison, Jamie becomes a leader among the prisoners under the nickname “Mac Dubh.” There, Jamie meets Lord John Grey, now the prison’s governor. John’s predecessor told him to invite Jamie to weekly dinners to discuss the other prisoners, and John continues this tradition. John believes Jamie knows where the French gold sent to Bonnie Prince Charlie is hidden. After the prison is renovated, the Crown sends the prisoners to America and uses the prison as an army barracks. However, John sends Jamie to Helwater, a stud farm in the Lake District owned by Lord Dunsany, where Jamie works as a groom.

Lord Dunsany has two daughters. The older daughter, Geneva, is in love with Jamie but is promised to an older man, Lord Ellesmere. She blackmails Jamie into having a sexual relationship with her. Geneva later leaves Helwater and marries Lord Ellesmere. Nine months later, she gives birth to a boy and dies the next day. Ellesmere tells Lord Dunsany the baby is not his and threatens to kill Jamie. Instead, Jamie kills Ellesmere. The baby, named William, is raised by Jamie and Dunsany. Lady Dunsany offers to ask Lord John to request a pardon for Jamie so he can return to Lallybroch. However, Jamie stays at Helwater for several years until he notices that William resembles him. At that point, Jamie accepts the pardon.

In the 20th century, Reverend Wakefield’s adopted son, Roger MacKenzie, offers to find Jamie. Roger, Claire, and their daughter Brianna discover evidence that Jamie wrote an article published in 1765. Claire considers returning to Jamie, and Brianna supports her. On Halloween in 1968, Claire travels back to Jamie’s time.

Claire finds Jamie in Edinburgh, where he is hiding under the name Alexander Malcolm and smuggling liquor through a printers’ shop. Jamie’s nephew, Young Ian, runs away from Lallybroch to help his uncle. Claire reunites with Fergus, her unofficial adopted son, who is now in his 30s. The family tells others that Claire was in America with relatives, believing Jamie died at Culloden.

After a failed smuggling attempt, Jamie takes Claire and Young Ian to Lallybroch. Claire learns Jamie married again and has two stepdaughters, Marsali and Joan, with his wife, Laoghaire. Laoghaire had once arrested Claire and nearly burned her for witchcraft. Claire is angry and leaves, but Young Ian brings her back, saying Laoghaire shot Jamie. Claire treats Jamie’s infected wound with antibiotics and syringes from the 20th century. Jamie agrees to pay Laoghaire 1,435 pounds in compensation and support her until she remarries. To get the money, Jamie, Claire, and Young Ian return to the “seals’ treasure,” the Jacobite gold and jewels buried near Ardsmuir. After retrieving the treasure, they plan to sell the jewels in France but are interrupted when Young Ian is kidnapped by a mysterious ship. Jamie and Claire travel to France with Marsali, who plans to marry Fergus.

At sea, their ship is stopped by the warship Porpoise, which is looking for a surgeon. Claire is taken aboard Porpoise and learns the customs agent searching for Jamie is on the ship, planning to arrest him in Jamaica. Claire escapes to Hispaniola, where she is found by a naturalist, Dr. Stern, and a strange priest. Jamie’s ship runs aground on Hispaniola after a storm, but Claire learns Jamie left to rescue her. Jamie is briefly captured but escapes and reunites with Claire.

Disguised as a Frenchman, Jamie attends a ball hosted by Lord John Grey, his old friend, and meets with John privately. A young woman is murdered at the ball, and the guests are detained. Claire also speaks with John, who tells her Jamie has a portrait of his son, Willie, whom Jamie has not yet told her about. Jamie and Claire search for Young Ian at a slave market and later at the plantation of Mrs. Abernathy, who is revealed to be the former Geillis Duncan. After staying with Geillis, Jamie and Claire discover she has captured Ian. They plan to rescue him but find Geillis has left with Ian. Claire finds a picture of Brianna nailed to the table in Geillis’s workroom, suggesting a plan to sacrifice her. After a struggle in a cave, Claire kills Geillis with an axe and escapes with Ian. As they flee on a stolen ship, they are chased by Porpoise. In a storm, Porpoise is lost, and the stolen ship is blown off course, shipwrecking in the American colony of Georgia.