Listening to Kidnapped narrated by a Scotsman was the perfect way to approach this classic. It’s full of Lowland Scots’ dialect, which would be challenging to read, but made perfect sense when you heard it being spoken.
Written in 1886, this is a fabulous story, set in Scotland during the Jacobite rising of 1745. It’s worth familiarising yourself with the history before embarking on the novel, as it will all make a lot more sense.
Young David Balfour has quite an adventure: kidnapped by his uncle and put on a ship bound for the Carolinas, he is shipwrecked on the Isle of Mull and must journey 230 miles across inhospitable country, dodging English soldiers, to return to Edinburgh and claim his inheritance.
But aside from all the trials and tribulations he endures along the way, it is David’s friendship with Alan Breck Stewart (a real Jacobite and Scottish soldier) that is the heart and soul of Kidnapped. They have some mighty fierce arguments, but their loyalty to each other always stays true.
If you are a (very) keen walker, you can follow David and Alan’s trek starting on the West of Scotland on the small island of Erraid and and finally across the Forth to Edinburgh and the statue of David Balfour and Alan Breck at Corstorphine. http://www.stevensonway.org.uk/
Highly recommended.