Catriona de Robert Louis Stevenson

Catriona

Robert Louis Stevenson

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Catriona (also known as David Balfour) is an 1893 novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson as a sequel to his earlier novel Kidnapped (1886). It tells the further story of the central character, David Balfour.

The book begins precisely where Kidnapped ends, at 2 PM on 25 August 1751, outside the British Linen Company in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The first part of the book recounts the attempts of the hero, David Balfour, to gain justice for James Stewart (James of the Glens), who has been arrested and charged with complicity in the Appin Murder. David makes a statement to a lawyer and goes on to meet William Grant of Prestongrange, the Lord Advocate of Scotland, to press the case for James' innocence.

However, his attempts fail as - after being reunited with Alan Breck - he is once again kidnapped and, this time, confined on the Bass Rock, an island in the Firth of Forth, until the trial is over, and James condemned to death.

David also meets and falls in love with Catriona MacGregor Drummond, the daughter of James MacGregor Drummond, known as James More (who was Rob Roy's eldest son), also held in prison, whose escape she engineers. David also receives some education in the manners and morals of polite society from Barbara Grant, Prestongrange's daughter.

In the second part, David and Catriona travel to Holland, where David studies law at the University of Leyden. David takes Catriona under his protection (she having no money) until her father finds them. James More eventually arrives and proves something of a disappointment, drinking a great deal and showing no compunction against living off David's largesse.

At this time, David learns of the death of his uncle Ebenezer, and thus gains knowledge that he has come into his full, substantial inheritance. David and Catriona, fast friends at this point, begin a series of misunderstandings that eventually drive her and James More away, though David sends payment to James in return for news of Catriona's welfare. James and Catriona find their way to Dunkirk in northern France. Meanwhile, Alan Breck joins David in Leyden, and he berates David for not understanding women.

Prodded thus, and at an invitation from James More, David and Alan journey to Dunkirk to visit with James and Catriona. They all meet one evening at a remote inn and discover the following day that James has betrayed Alan (falsely convicted of the Appin murder) into the hands of a British warship anchored near the shore. The British attempt to capture Alan, who flees with David and Catriona, now reconciled and shamed by James More's ignominy. The three flee to Paris, where David and Catriona are married. James More dies from an illness, and David and Catriona return to Scotland to raise a family.

Filled with memorable characters and the hilarity, insight, and heartbreak of their genuineness as they face the infamous kidnapping, desertion, and having to run with their lives, Kidnapped and Catriona are an excellent choice for readers who enjoy historical fiction and romance, Scottish and British history, and action/adventure. Excellent, high-quality, clean reads to add to school reading lists, as well.

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Notă biografică

Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish author, essayist, poet, and travel writer. He was born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson on November 13, 1850, and died on December 3, 1894. The books Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped, and A Child's Garden of Verses are among his best known. Stevenson, who was born and had his education in Edinburgh, had severe bronchial problems for much of his life, despite which he produced a large body of work and travelled abroad. He was inspired by Andrew Lang, Edmund Gosse, Leslie Stephen, and W. E. Henley as a young man when mingling in intellectual circles in London. The last author may have served as a model for Long John Silver in Treasure Island. He moved to Samoa in 1890, when his work shifted away from romance and adventure literature and toward a harsher reality out of concern for the growing influence of Europe and America on the South Sea islands. Stevenson abruptly yelled, ""What's that?,"" then questioned his wife, ""Does my face seem strange?,"" before collapsing on December 3, 1894, as he struggled to open a bottle of wine while chatting with his wife. He suffered a stroke at the age of 44, and died a few hours later.