The Nexus Archive
Gothic Fiction · Novel
Kidnapped
by Stevenson · The Anatomist of the Split Self · Victorian Gothic, 1850-1894
Stevenson's adventure novel of inheritance, betrayal, shipwreck, Highland flight, and David Balfour's friendship with Alan Breck.
- Intermediate
- 1886
- ~6 hr read
- 10 chapter guides
- Public domain
Start reading · Read the A Road to Shaws guide free
Before the text
Editor's Prelude
A Name and a Letter
David Balfour begins his account in June 1751, leaving the village where his father taught school. Both parents are dead. The minister sends him toward the house of Shaws with a letter addressed to Ebenezer Balfour, a relative David did not know he had. A family name that has meant little in his modest upbringing suddenly seems to promise opportunity. He sets out with a few possessions, his education, and considerable confidence in what a respectable household ought to be.
Robert Louis Stevenson published Kidnapped in 1886, setting the adventure in a Scotland still divided by the Jacobite rising defeated at Culloden in 1746. The Jacobites sought to restore the Stuart dynasty; the victorious government upheld King George II. David has been raised a Protestant and a Whig, loyal to that government. In the Highlands, loyalty to dispossessed chiefs can carry obligations that the law treats as crimes. Political allegiance, clan connections, and the language a stranger speaks can determine whether he receives shelter or suspicion.
David tells the story with the knowledge of a man looking back on his youth. He remembers his fears and mistakes as readily as his successes, and often corrects a judgment his younger self made too quickly. Stevenson’s dedication also admits departures from historical dates and geography: this is an adventure shaped around Scotland’s past, rather than a claim to reproduce it exactly. The hopes with which David starts are simple; the people whose conduct he must learn to judge are less so.
The opening pages
A Road to Shaws
CHAPTER I
I SET OFF UPON MY JOURNEY TO THE HOUSE OF SHAWS
I will begin the story of my adventures with a certain morning early in the month of June, the year of grace 1751, when I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father’s house. The sun began to shine upon the summit of the hills as I went down the road; and by the time I had come as far as the manse, the blackbirds were whistling in the garden lilacs, and the mist that hung around the valley in the time of the dawn was beginning to arise and die away.
Mr. Campbell, the minister of Essendean, was waiting for me by the garden gate, good man! He asked me if I had breakfasted; and hearing that I lacked for nothing, he took my hand in both of his and clapped it kindly under his arm.
“Well, Davie, lad,” said he, “I will go with you as far as the ford, to set you on the way.” And we began to walk forward in silence.
“Are ye sorry to leave Essendean?” said he, after awhile.
“Why, sir,” said I, “if I knew where I was going, or what was likely to become of me, I would tell you candidly. Essendean is a good place indeed, and I have been very happy there; but then I have never been anywhere else. My father and mother, since they are both dead, I shall be no nearer to in Essendean than in the Kingdom of Hungary, and, to speak truth, if I thought I had a chance to better myself where I was going I would go with a good will.”
“Ay?” said Mr. Campbell. “Very well, Davie. Then it behoves me to tell your fortune; or so far as I may. When your mother was gone, and your father (the worthy, Christian man) began to sicken for his end, he gave me in charge a certain letter, which he said was your inheritance. ‘So soon,’ says he, ‘as I am gone, and the house is redd up and the gear disposed of’ (all which, Davie, hath been done), ‘give my boy this letter into his hand, and start him off to the house of Shaws, not far from Cramond. That is the place I came from,’ he said, ‘and it’s where it befits that my boy should return. He is a steady lad,’ your father said, ‘and a canny goer; and I doubt not he will come safe, and be well liked where he goes.’”
Chapter guides · 10
A Road to Shaws
The Letter to Shaws
David leaves a familiar home for a family connection that has only just been revealed to him.
An Inheritance in an Envelope
After his father’s death, David receives a letter addressed to Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws. Mr. Campbell explains that his father came from that family and encourages the journey, offering refuge if the relatives refuse him. David imagines a prosperous household and the chance to improve his position. He knows the name and destination, but little of the people who await him.
Gifts and Expectations
The minister’s gifts combine practical help, religious teaching, and an elaborate medicinal recipe. His parting affection moves David, who nevertheless feels more excitement at his prospects than grief at leaving. Looking back, he reproaches himself for that imbalance. Rank and kinship have already acquired an attraction strong enough to compete with the kindness he actually knows.
The Stair-Tower
The Unfinished Stair
A family clue raises David’s hopes; Ebenezer’s errand then puts his life in danger.
The Writing in the Book
At Shaws, Ebenezer alternates meagre hospitality with surveillance and demands for secrecy. A book inscribed by David’s father for Ebenezer’s fifth birthday makes David question which brother was older. His uncle’s alarm at the subject encourages a suspicion that he may himself be the rightful heir. That possibility is still an inference, not a settled claim.
An Errand in Darkness
After giving David money, Ebenezer sends him without a light up an unfinished stair, assuring him it is sound. Lightning exposes the danger; David continues cautiously until his hand finds that the stairs end above a fatal drop. Back inside, he startles his uncle into collapse, obtains a weapon, and then administers the medicine his uncle requests. He locks Ebenezer in his room for the night. He has survived the trap and reversed their immediate positions, but has not obtained the explanation.
The Covenant Trap
The Captain’s Welcome
Hoseason gains David’s confidence by presenting himself as protection against Ebenezer.
The Captain Yields
A Button and a Bargain
David and Alan’s defense of the round-house wins an agreement with the captain, though it has left the ship badly weakened.
Earraid
The Tide at Earraid
David’s escape from shipwreck leaves him trapped by something he has not understood about the shore.
The Appin Murder
Accused at the Roadside
David witnesses Glenure’s murder, pursues the fleeing gunman, and finds himself named as an accomplice.
The House of Fear
The Household at Aucharn
Fear of punishment makes James of the Glens seek protection at the expense of the friends he shelters.
The Quarrel
The Quarrel on the Road
Alan’s gambling loss and David’s resentment threaten a friendship that pursuit has made indispensable.
Mr. Rankeillor
At Rankeillor’s Door
The lawyer can hear David’s story, but David must decide whether trusting him will endanger Alan.
Rest-and-be-Thankful
Property and an Unfinished Duty
David gains an income from Shaws, then leaves it to arrange help for Alan and offer testimony for James.
Questions readers ask
- How long does it take to read Kidnapped?
- About 6 hr in total.
- How difficult is Kidnapped?
- Intermediate. A long novel; about 6 hours of reading.
- Can I read Kidnapped for free?
- Kidnapped is part of Nexus Premium, so reading it needs an account and a Premium subscription. The opening above and two chapter guides on this page are free to read.
- How many chapter guides are there?
- 10 chapter guides, written by the Nexus editors. Two open in full here; the rest show their opening line.
About Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, essayist, and travel writer. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde became one of literature's most durable images of divided identity, reputation, addiction, and hidden appetite.
“What happens when a person tries to separate his public self from his hidden desires?”
Stevenson gives Nexus a compact gothic anatomy of the divided modern self.
Source text: public domain. Chapter guides: original Nexus writing. Kidnapped is part of The Nexus Archive, guided Quests through the great works.