Robert Louis Stevenson

Weir of Hermiston Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) may have traveled more than the characters in some of his critically acclaimed and world renowned novels. Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and traveling writer who wrote classics like Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Stevenson was so accomplished that he was a celebrity during his lifetime, and he left an influence on great writers who followed him, including Hemingway and Kipling. At the same time, his works are easy enough to read that they can be taught in classrooms across the world to teenagers. One of his most popular books was Treasure Island, which all but created every stereotype now associated with pirates. Weir of Hermiston was the last work Stevenson was writing when he suffered his untimely death. In fact, the book ends right in the middle of a sentence, leading some to speculate that he was actually dictating the book immediately before his death.