David Balfour

by Robert Louis Stevenson 2 books in this series

The David Balfour novels follow a young Lowland Scot from dispossession and abduction into the unsettled political world left by the 1745 Jacobite rising. Kidnapped pairs David with the historical fugitive Allan Breck Stewart and makes the Appin Murder the climax of a journey through the Highlands.

Catriona continues David’s attempt to expose the manipulation of James Stewart’s trial while his relationship with Catriona Drummond takes him from Edinburgh and the Bass Rock to the Netherlands and France. Across both books, Stevenson contrasts private loyalty with state power, clan memory and the demands of justice.

Reading order

Books in this series (2 books)

1. Kidnapped

Robert Louis Stevenson

First published 1886

4.0(2)

Scotland, 1751. Newly orphaned David Balfour travels to the House of Shaws to claim his inheritance from his miserly uncle Ebenezer. Ebenezer arranges for him to be abducted aboard the Covenant and sold into servitude in the American colonies, but the ship takes on Allan Breck…

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2. Catriona

Robert Louis Stevenson

First published 1893

3.9(105)

Edinburgh, 1752. David Balfour tries to clear Allan Breck Stewart and save James Stewart of the Glen from conviction for the Appin Murder. He approaches Lord Advocate William Grant, later Lord Prestongrange, offering evidence that undermines the prosecution. Government officials and clan interests instead delay and…

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