Catriona (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

By Robert Louis Stevenson and Caroline McCracken-Flesher

"'Catriona' so reeks and hums with genius that there is no refuge for the desperate reader but in straightforward prostration." - Henry James

Robert Louis Stevenson considered Catriona, the lively sequel to Kidnapped, his best work. At the end of Kidnapped, young David Balfour enters an Edinburgh bank to claim his inheritance., In the opening scene of Catriona, he comes out moneybags in hand. While Balfour entered the bank a somewhat stolid teenager; he exits into young manhood to contend with all the complexities of politics, love, and family

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Release date: Sep 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781411430990

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson was born on 13 November 1850, changing his second name to ‘Louis’ at the age of eighteen. He has always been loved and admired by countless readers and critics for ‘the excitement, the fierce joy, the delight in strangeness, the pleasure in deep and dark adventures’ found in his classic stories and, without doubt, he created some of the most horribly unforgettable characters in literature and, above all, Mr. Edward Hyde.

Reviews for Catriona (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

[hhornblower_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A surprisingly well done sequel/continuation of a very famous story. I never knew it existed until I saw it at the Huntington gift shop. Having just finish Kidnapped, I figured I'd give it a shot and was pleasantly surprised. Well worth a read.

[schmerguls · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is a sequel to Kidnapped, which I read in 1970. I read a synopsis of it to prepeare to read this volume, which was first published in 1893, the year before Stevenson died. The first 265 pages tell of David traipsing around Scotland, and the things he was trying to do and that others were preventing him from doing are a mite obscure. And there is much Scot dialect, which is a real pain to read and to try to make sense of. But the second part beginning on page 267, tells of David's trip to Europe, accompanied by the love of his life. This part has little Scot dialect, and tells a good story, even poignant at times. The morals of David and his love are exemplary and people wearied by modern fiction characters who have no morals at all will enjoy the contrast which David displays. Ths book is an illustration of the wisdom of not giving up on a book just because the first 265 pages are a chore at times to read.

[parelle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

No, this isn't as good at Kidnapped. I fully admit to being a sap in saying that I enjoyed it, for it isn't the high-flying adventure story that the first book is - at all. No, here we have Davie in loooooooove. I do think though that this book is still best for the connections it has to Kidnapped - whether it be David doing right by the people who helped him before, or the rare and wonderful appearances of Alan Breck. And yet, even in this somewhat strained circumstances, I still liked him - and her, as well.

[themulhern · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The immediate sequel to Kidnapped. This is not an adventure or travel tale, but a tale of politics, love, propriety, and misunderstanding. David must think through his position constantly, and ultimately accomplishes very little, though he works at it very hard. James Mor MacGregor-Drummond is so exasperating as to be quite entertaining. David has a very refreshing hard-headedness or cold-bloodedness when those whom he has truly disliked die, but his affection for his friends is unaffected and very strong.