Book – Kidnapped

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886) – An 18 year old Scottish boy goes to claim his inheritance but is thrown into a life and death adventure when he is kidnapped by people hired by a relative.  He ends up in the country of Scottish rebels fighting against the English king.

I have enjoyed the last two Stevenson books I’ve read so I was excited to grab another one.  If he had published it today it would be listed under “Young Adult”.  At the time it was published as a “boys’ novel”.  So I probably should have lowered my expectations a little.

“Kidnapped” is a fun adventure story as our hero, David Balfour, tries to assume his rightful place in the world.  He will be betrayed, kidnapped, tossed onto a ship to carry him to virtual slavery, shipwrecked and forced to wander alone and virtually penniless in a part of Scotland he doesn’t know.  In fact, he’s a bit of a suspect person in the Highlands because he is a Lowland Scot and a supporter of the English King.  Balfour finds himself in the company of the renowned rebel Allan Breck Stewart.  (The book is based on real events and real people, like Stewart.  The fictional Balfour lets Stevenson explore recent history that would have been very familiar to his readers)

The other side of the coin is that there isn’t the kind of psychological depth that your find in “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde“.  Because so much of the action is either Balfour by himself or just he and Stewart, it lacks the breadth of storytelling that happens in “Treasure Island“.  This is a pretty simple, straight ahead boy’s adventure novel.  There’s nothing wrong with that, it just means that it stands a step below the other two.

Stevenson renders the dialogue as the Scots would have spoken it as much as possible.  So much so that he included translations for some words that his English readers might not know.  It makes the book slightly more difficult to follow.

Why I Liked It – Stevenson’s storytelling shines through even when he’s writing for younger readers.

Why You Will Like It – A fun adventure that will take you through some actual history of Scotland and England.

Rating – *** Worth A Look