It's handled very well, actually. I was worried about that myself as I started to get into the book, because her 20th century husband, Frank, is portrayed sympathetically - he is a good man. In fact, that may have been, on a not-very-conscious level, why I've been resisting the books for so long.
Once Claire is in the past, there is a slow-growing but obvious attraction and respect between Claire and Jamie - although it has ups and downs, because she is in a culture she doesn't understand, and he behaves in ways she does not expect. As she becomes more enmeshed in 18th century Scottish culture, he makes more sense to her, and she to him. They are friends and partners well before they are lovers.
Also, while she never gives up hope of getting back to the 20th century, she doesn't know if it's possible, and she is a young woman, possibly trapped forever in a time and place where her husband isn't even born yet, and it is difficult for a woman to make her way without being in a relationship with a man.
Then, through a set of specific actions that would be serious spoilers if I discussed them, but which arise naturally from the plot and setting, she finds herself in a position where a relationship with Jamie is the most practical way for her to achieve her goals - one of which is staying alive, and one of which - and this is an important thread that runs through the book, for reasons that are also spoilers - is making sure that Frank's ancestor lives to carry on the line so Frank can be born.
It helps a lot that she is conscious of and conflicted over the issue, and it also helps that she has a practical and earthy frame of mind, rather than a romantic "one twwu love" frame of mind.
And finally, Gabaldon, conscious of the problem this situation is going to raise for a lot of people, makes a point, very early on while Claire is still in the 20th century, of having Claire and Frank - who have been apart long periods of time during the war years - talk about issues of fidelity while one is separated from one's spouse in a relatively non-judgmental way.
I understand, however - and there is foreshadowing of this early in the first novel - that as the series goes on, it turns out that various people can and do move back and forth in time, and that will certainly make the situation more complicated - I'm not sure at all how Gabaldon handles that. But in the first novel, it's done in a way that does not detract from the respect one has for Claire - or for Jamie.
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Once Claire is in the past, there is a slow-growing but obvious attraction and respect between Claire and Jamie - although it has ups and downs, because she is in a culture she doesn't understand, and he behaves in ways she does not expect. As she becomes more enmeshed in 18th century Scottish culture, he makes more sense to her, and she to him. They are friends and partners well before they are lovers.
Also, while she never gives up hope of getting back to the 20th century, she doesn't know if it's possible, and she is a young woman, possibly trapped forever in a time and place where her husband isn't even born yet, and it is difficult for a woman to make her way without being in a relationship with a man.
Then, through a set of specific actions that would be serious spoilers if I discussed them, but which arise naturally from the plot and setting, she finds herself in a position where a relationship with Jamie is the most practical way for her to achieve her goals - one of which is staying alive, and one of which - and this is an important thread that runs through the book, for reasons that are also spoilers - is making sure that Frank's ancestor lives to carry on the line so Frank can be born.
It helps a lot that she is conscious of and conflicted over the issue, and it also helps that she has a practical and earthy frame of mind, rather than a romantic "one twwu love" frame of mind.
And finally, Gabaldon, conscious of the problem this situation is going to raise for a lot of people, makes a point, very early on while Claire is still in the 20th century, of having Claire and Frank - who have been apart long periods of time during the war years - talk about issues of fidelity while one is separated from one's spouse in a relatively non-judgmental way.
I understand, however - and there is foreshadowing of this early in the first novel - that as the series goes on, it turns out that various people can and do move back and forth in time, and that will certainly make the situation more complicated - I'm not sure at all how Gabaldon handles that. But in the first novel, it's done in a way that does not detract from the respect one has for Claire - or for Jamie.