3rd July 2025
Hi everyone,
How are you?
I am really well thank you. I am loving my life right now. It feels great to be finding my feet at my flat. I think making new friends is very important. It’s nice finding someone to chill with. I have a new friend in Ria. We spent the afternoon together just watching Gavin & Stacey and eating some wonderful oat cookies she had made. When the world feels like it is all go. It’s nice to just …..
Stop
In Ria I have found a fellow crafter. This amazing lady has her own craft business where she turns old bracelets and necklaces into art. She paints and uses clay to make birds as well. She is super talented! She sells some of what she makes. It’s beautiful. Ria loves making her bracelets and spreading joy, making people smile. She loves to also meet new customers too! She can be found in Poundbury. Come and check us out!
Girl power
Let’s go from my new best friend, and step back in time to explore A Fugitive Green (Outlander 2.5).
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Novella: A Fugitive Green (can be found in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall: A Collection of Outlander Short Stories)
Virgins which covers part of Jamie Fraser’s story pre Claire can also be found in this anthology. I covered this a little while ago.
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Imprint: Century
Novella Title: A Fugitive Green (Outlander 2.5)
Dedication
Thank you Barbara for introducing me to such a bright world of vibrant characters. They will never leave me.
Started reading: 20th May 2025
Finished reading: 22nd May 2025
Ways of reading: Hardcover/Audiobook
Book length: 216 pages
Genre: Historical
Date of publication: 29th June 2017
Original language: English
Would I recommend? Yes to history lovers
Read rating: ***
Reading ease: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5
Hal (Harold) Earl of Melton and Duke of Pardloe
This is our first introduction to the Grey family, lord John Grey becomes a very important character in Jamie Fraser’s life. When he spares John his life in Dragonfly in Amber after John tries to kill ‘Red’ Jamie. A Fugitive Green is set in 1744-1745 Paris, London and Amsterdam and tells the story of John’s elder brother Hal. It’s also all about a powerful young lady called Minerva (Minnie) who is the daughter of a rare book dealer. She can decipher codes in important letters. She is sent from Paris to London to do this by her father. On her mission she is also husband hunting. She discovers more than she was expecting and bumps into Jamie on his own important task in Paris; trying to change history.
In this novella, Diana Gabaldon makes Minnie shine when she attends the ball that puts her in the path of Hal Grey. The way Gabaldon Describes the colour of her dress, places Minnie in a spotlight that won’t fade.
‘Perhaps was why trees changed the colour of their leaves in autumn. The green slipped away somehow, leaving them to fade into a brownish death. But why, then, did they have that momentary blaze of red and yellow?’
A fugitive colour is a colour that fades. The way that the dress comes to life in this pivotal scene, I felt like I could almost reach out and touch it. It’s beautiful. Minnie just gets brighter and brighter.
Alongside the main Outlander series there is a mini series of books depicting Lord John Grey. I can’t wait to share these with you. When you are reading the books you need the Lord John Grey books to fill in the historical gaps. They also help to continue Jamie’s story arc.
Young John Gray
Before we get to learn more of John Grey he has to play a more key role, which he does in Voyager.
Next time I see you in The Reading Corner though, I will be Outlander a well earned break.
I can’t wait to tell you about the new book club I have joined. See you next time.
Love Hatts
Xxx
Hatty’s Reading Corner 
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