“Catriona” is the sequel to “Kidnapped”.  It may not be as well known, but it is every bit as good as its’ predecessor.  “Kidnapped” is not a complete book, in that, at the end, the reader doesn’t really know what ultimately happens to all of the characters.  You’re left to draw your own assumptions and hope the final end is all that the David and Alan planned it to be.  “Catriona” comes in and ties up all the loose threads, and even adds a new one, telling how David Balfour falls head-over-heels in love with the daughter of his enemy.

“Kidnapped” is a story of adventure and friendship.  While,  “Catriona” is a love story, through and through.  Though there is certainly more to it than just romance, the main and lasting focus of the book is David’s love for Catriona.  Clarification: I am not a romance fan.  I can handle it, but I am far more likely to roll my eyes at romance than enjoy it.  It is, I think, a very tricky thing to write about, but Stevenson does it magnificently.  David’s love and honor for Catriona is the kind of love and honor that any father would be looking for in a husband for his daughter.  His character reflected that honor that could suffer no permanant stain even when he failed, because his heart was pure.

As I said, I an not a fan of romance, but I thoroughly enjoyed “Catriona”.  Having read “Kidnapped” and fallen in love with the characters, I was anxious to learn what happened to them.  Alan Breck Stewart plays a rather large part, for not being in it much, David comes into his own, and the Appin Murder case is wrapped up.  All that was started in “Kidnapped” is finished and my only complaint is that there’s no more!   I was very disappointed to finish the book and have to leave them, knowing that that’s the end of it right there.  Yes, it’s very sad… *sniff*.

Dealing with falling in love, courtship and marriage as it does, “Catriona” is probably for a more mature audience than “Kidnapped”.  Older teens to adult, I would say.   There are no “adult” topics however, and it’s very “clean”, it merely deals with more mature ideas.   But whenever you read it, you can’t go wrong reading “Catriona”!

I do not own “Catriona” in book form, but there are two I have my eye on.  It’s so difficult to choose between them! There’s the one that is by the same publisher as the “Kidnapped” I have.  The benefit of that one is the extensive Scottish glossary in the back, pretty much a necessity at times.  The other is one that calls itself “David Balfour”, and the benefit of that one is the illustrations by N. C. Wyeth.  8-0  Oooooo!  Decisions, decisions…  which one?  The Scottish Glossary, or the fabulous illustrations?

I own the unabridged audio version from www.emusic.com.  I enjoyed listening to David Case very much (so much so, I’ve cast my eye on several other books that he also read aloud)!  His Scottish accents were delightful, and even his girl voices were excellent.  You can download it in a free trial by clicking on the banner below.