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Similar in outline to Waverley: a rich young Englishman journeys north to participate in the events surrounding a Jacobite rebellion in Scotland. Supporting the rebels is a beautiful, cultured, highly-spirited gentlewoman, with whom the hero falls in love. Again, Scott triple filters us from modern, rich England, to Border/Lowland gentry, to Lowland Scotland, and ultimately to the feudal Highlands. Once again, Scott's English hero is naive, militarily ineffective, and is used as a tool by more able rebels. The positives of Rob Roy are similar to those of Waverley: the background historical knowledge, the highly-skilled use of different narrative textures, and several excellent characters, including Baillie Jarvis and Diana Vernon. (In fact, Diana Vernon is so good, it appears that Patrick O'Brian reincarnated her as the Diana Villiers of his Aubrey-Maturin novels.) The main negative of Rob Roy is that it reads like a lesser retread of Waverley. This time, we miss the nobility of the hero's blood-brotherhood with a Scotsman, such as Waverley's McIvor. We also miss the main military encounter of the 1715 campaign. We only see Rob Roy fleetingly and disguised in the first 370 pages, which are full of a laboured satire of decadent Border gentry. Anyone expecting the novel which inspired the Liam Neeson film will be disappointed --- Scott's book only hints at the events which forced Rob Roy to become an outlaw. Overall, I would recommend this book, but only to those who have read and enjoyed Waverley, Old Mortality, and Heart of Midlothian.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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