Description - Kidnapped & Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Kidnapped is set around real 18th-century Scottish events, which occurred in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745, a time of turmoil and political upheaval. It tells the tale of David Balfour, a recently orphaned seventeen-year-old, who is left to seek his own fortune. A letter from his deceased father advises him to head to the house of Shaws in Edinburgh. He travels to Scotland as though it was a foreign country, meeting various adventures and misadventures on the way. Many of the characters in the novel are real people, including Alan Breck Stewart, the unscrupulous but heroic champion of the Jacobite cause. It is with bold skill that the author blends the real with the imaginary. The true events and the period details give colour and richness to the narrative. By using historical events as pegs on which to hang his story Stevenson succeeds in creating an enthralling action adventure. As a reader, he leaves one almost breathless with excitement and admiration. Stevenson was particularly pleased with this novel, saying that he would 'never do a better book.' The exciting sweep and drama of the tale not only engaged the interest of the young, but also more mature readers. 'Catriona', the lesser-known sequel, immediately continues David's story. Back in Edinburgh, he is caught up in the aftermath of the Appin murder; certain of the accused man's innocence, David's determination to testify on his behalf is impeded by a series of adventures, not least of which is hid passionate but problematic romance with Catriona, granddaughter of Rob Roy MacGregor. Alan Breck features again, becoming involved in the thrilling attempt to reunite the lovers. One of his own favourites, Stevenson said of Catriona that he would 'never do a better book'. AUTHOR: Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born on the 13 November 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland, into a family profession of lighthouse design, his father being a leading lighthouse engineer. Stevenson inherited a tendency to coughs and fevers in his youth, and ill health plagued him throughout his adult life, recurrent illness leaving him extraordinarily thin. Contemporary views were that he had tuberculosis, but more recent views are that it was bronchiectasis or even sarcoidosis.
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