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In 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie rises against the crown, the Durie family of Durrisdeer in Scotland decides to keep a son on each side. The brilliant…
In 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie rises against the crown, the Durie family of Durrisdeer in Scotland decides to keep a son on each side. The brilliant, charming and wicked elder brother James, the Master of Ballantrae, joins the rebellion, while the dull, decent Henry stays at home loyal to King George. James is reported dead at Culloden, and Henry inherits his place and marries the woman James was to marry, but the Master returns, again and again, from exile, piracy and India, to torment him.
Context and significance
Published in 1889, the novel is told mostly by the family's loyal steward, Mackellar, who is not as neutral as he believes. It is one of Robert Louis Stevenson's darkest and most ambitious books, a tale of two brothers that ranges from Scotland to the wilderness of New York. Read also Kidnapped, and see his life.
About the author
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) came from a family of Edinburgh lighthouse engineers and was expected to follow them, but chose writing, despite lungs so weak he was often bedridden. He travelled constantly in search of health, married the American Fanny Osbourne and wrote Treasure Island for her son.
Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and A Child's Garden of Verses followed, and in 1890 he settled in Samoa, where the islanders called him Tusitala, the teller of tales. He died there at forty-four and is buried on a hilltop above his home.