Set in the long winter after the '45, The Master of Ballantrae stages a fraternal feud between the charismatic, amoral James Durie and his dutiful brother Henry, narrated chiefly by the steward Ephraim Mackellar. Stevenson fuses gothic romance, sea adventure, and psychological study into a mosaic of letters and reminiscence, ranging from Durrisdeer to French privateers and the American wilderness with Secundra Dass. The Shakespearean subtitle announces a parable where fate and self-fashioning contend in wintry prose. Robert Louis Stevenson-Edinburgh-born, chronically ill, and itinerant-had long probed moral doubleness (from Deacon Brodie to Dr. Jekyll). Writing much of this novel during his Adirondack sojourn and serializing it in Scribner's before the 1889 book, he set Scottish romance in dialogue with Scott yet darkened it with irony. His fascinations with Jacobite legend, exile, and theatrics of identity animate James's seductive villainy and Henry's corrosion. This unabridged, illustrated edition restores the novel's architecture and situates its scenes within their historical textures. Readers of Scott, Conrad, and modern psychological fiction will find a chilling study of charisma, conscience, and chance, told with taut economy. For newcomers and returners alike, The Master of Ballantrae remains a bracing, snow-lit masterpiece of moral ambiguity and storytelling art.
Quickie Classics summarizes timeless works with precision, preserving the author's voice and keeping the prose clear, fast, and readable-distilled, never diluted. Enriched Edition extras: Introduction · Synopsis · Historical Context · Author Biography · Brief Analysis · 4 Reflection Q&As · Editorial Footnotes.
