Kidnapped
First published 1886 · English · 294 pages
- Novels
- Adventure
- Mystery and crime
- Young adult
Set in Scotland in the aftermath of the 1745 Jacobite rising, this novel follows David Balfour, a young orphan who goes to claim his inheritance from his uncle Ebenezer. Instead of a welcome he meets treachery, and is sent far from home against his will.
On his journey he meets Alan Breck Stewart, a bold, vain and loyal Highlander, and the two cross the heather together, pursued and short of food. The story mixes adventure with the divisions of Scottish history, Highland and Lowland, and the friendship between two very different young men is its warm centre.
Quotes
Am I no a bonny fighter?
I will begin the story of my adventures with a certain morning early in the month of June, the year of grace 1751.
They were a rough lot indeed, as sailors mostly are: being men rooted out of all the kindly parts of life, and condemned to toss together on the rough seas, with masters no less cruel.
Each side, in these sort of civil broils, takes the name of honesty for its own.