Who was married to Robert Louis Stevenson?
Did you see the Blue Moon?
Hi all. The post yesterday on A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson opened a pathway to further thought and investigation. Thanks so much to Jeanine Kitchel@mexicosoul for pointing me to this great interview of the new book, A Wilder Shore, by Camille Peri, that ran yesterday on NPR:
A Wilder Shore is about Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife Fanny, who was 11 years older and fleeing a bad marriage to a gold miner in San Francisco
“Fanny” Frances Matilda Van de Grift Osbourne Stevenson (10 March 1840 – 18 February 1914) born in Indianapolis, Indiana, 10 years the senior of her second husband, Robert Louis.
Peri opens "A Wilder Shore" with a scene that could have been written by Louis, but instead was lived by Fanny. In the summer of 1875, she and her three children and their governess rushed aboard a train in San Francisco to cross the country and catch a ship in New York Harbor that would carry them to Belgium.
This was no pleasure trip. To reach their destination, the little band rode a wagon through floodwaters. But Fanny was desperate to escape her humiliating marriage to a prospector who lived openly with his mistress. With the little money she'd earned by sewing, Fanny planned to enroll herself and her teenage daughter in art school. Hurtling into the unknown put the 36-year-old still-married mother of three in the orbit of Robert Louis Stevenson, a sickly Scottish writer who was 10 years her junior
So first on my list to read will be A Wilder Shore, by Camille Peri, or at least the review which is highlighted above.
The Wikipedia Article on Robert Louis Stevenson furthe piqued my curiosity:
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as Treasure Island, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Kidnapped and A Child's Garden of Verses.
What jumped out at me was Travel Writer! Wow, that’s kind of what I consider myself.
The next interesting fact that struck me was that his Father, Grandfather, and two Uncles on his father’s side were Lighthouse Engineers. This is in 1850. These were pretty elite folks. The family designed and built most of Scotland’s lighthouses! Can you imagine the degree of knowledge required to build a lighthouse in 1850? First of all, the foundation must be solid. The siting of the thing would be critical, to determine both the danger requiring warning and the obstructions to the light. Then the height, the sweep of the light, the power of the lens, all must be designed and constructed to warn off those ships who strayed close, or who needed direction for the next leg.
What careful men they must have been, diligent in detail and conservative in style. I found this site, about the lighthouses built by the Stephensons: Stevenson Lighthouses in Scotland.
It is this diligence to detail that I think removes Stephenson from others. And the detail in his writing is just enough. Conservative but yet complete.
Then the next thing to read is any book by RLS. The only one available at the library on tape right now is The Black Arrow. Not sure if I’ve ever read it. I devoured Treasure Island annually for several years. Last I saw my copy it was totally missing the cover.
Here is a quote from RLS about writing, which I find fascinating:
Man's one method, whether he reasons or creates, is to half-shut his eyes against the dazzle and confusion of reality...Life is monstrous, infinite, illogical, abrupt and poignant; a work of art, in comparison, is neat, finite, self-contained, rational, flowing, and emasculate...The novel, which is a work of art, exists, not by its resemblances to life, which are forced and material ... but by its immeasurable difference from life, which is designed and significant.
Stevenson, Robert Louis. "A Humble Remonstrance" (PDF).
The purpose of the novel, according to RLS, is to provide an escape from reality. Well that is exactly what Treasure Island did for me when I was a boy!
So my plan is to read or reread:
Anything by Robert Louis Stevenson, including Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped, and The Black Arrow.
Plus read: A Wilder Shore by Camille Peri.
Above: Photograph of Robert Louis Stevenson and family at Vailima on the island of Upolu in Samoa. Left to right: Mary Carter, maid to Stevenson's mother; Lloyd Osbourne, Stevenson's stepson; Margaret Balfour, Stevenson's mother; Isobel Strong, Stevenson's stepdaughter; Robert Louis Stevenson; Austin Strong, the Strong's son; Stevenson's wife Fanny Stevenson; and Joseph Dwight Strong, Isobel's husband. Public Domain.
We had a nice boat ride this afternoon as the strong high pressure system continues to bring cool Canadian air in from the North. There was hardly a soul on the lake as the Indiana kids are back in school already.
The Moon has been magnificent the last few nights. Saturn is the bright planet next to the moon. We can start to enjoy the dark skies more now as the days get shorter.
Thanks for riding along.
Thanks for the shout out, David (only one ‘l’ btw). The Corrigan review was so interesting. I love her book reviews. Do you think you’ll read it?
You have me intrigued about reading "The Black Arrow" providing I can locate it.