In December 1887 Stevenson wrote that he had fallen head over heels into a newtale ... a most seizing tale there are some fantastic elements the most is adead g... » 

In December 1887 Stevenson wrote that he had fallen head over heels into a newtale ... a most seizing tale there are some fantastic elements the most is adead genuine human problem human tragedy I should say rather.. The Masterof Ballantrae opens in the old Scottish house of Durrisdeer ancestral home ofthe Duries a family divided by the Jacobite rising of 1745. Its adventuredraws in sea voyages piracy buried treasure magic and nightmare and centreson the fatal rivalry between two brothers James and Henry and the wealthy andbeautiful kinswoman who loves one brother but marries the other. The Master isall I know of the devil Stevenson confessed and the satanic virileseductive figure of James Durie dominates the novel. The family servantMackellar narrates The Master of Ballantrae and his divided loyaltiesdramatize the question of mastery which in his introduction to this PenguinClassics edition Adrian Poole identifies as a vital theme in Stevensonstragic masterpiece. «