A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson by Camille Peri. Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2024. Biography. Nonfiction. Think you know Robert Louis Stevenson? Think again! Camille Peri's chunky book on him and his wife, Fanny, will almost certainly provide new insights for most readers. Although they met when she was married and had children, the two spent the rest of their lives moving about and writing. Best known for Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and his curious tale about The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson was ill and near death many times during his lifetime. Fanny is given credit for being a muse, a nurse, a co-writer, as well as his wife. While she outlived him by some twenty years, her influence and works were never given much credit during his lifetime. Peri's deep dive into their lives corrects that omission.
Among my favorite new pieces of information in this well researched book is that Stevenson is actually responsible for the slightly altered song lyrics in Outlander, the television series! (See page 305 for more information.)
No comments:
Post a Comment