Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Stories

Stevenson’s short stories are certain to retain their position in English literature. His serious rivals are few indeed
Mr Hyde’s sordid and perhaps deviant excesses are rendered more suggestive through being left undescribed
A fable that lies nearer to poetry than to ordinary prose fiction
Robert Louis Stevenson…was a storyteller, that’s what I’d like to be, that’s what I’m trying to be
Jekyll and Hyde, in particular, is such an important novel in terms of suspense and setting a perfect scene for crime
Writers I love: Ellroy, Larry Block, Robert Louis Stevenson, Muriel Spark, Anthony Burgess, Chandler… ‘[Edinburgh] was the city of Jekyll & Hyde, where the template for that story was a real-life Edinburgh character named Deacon William Brodie, who was a gentleman by day and a burglar and murderer by night. He gave Stevenson his story
Another genius Scottish take on the theme of split personalities. Needs no further introduction

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1850. Chronically ill with bronchitis and possibly tuberculosis, Stevenson withdrew from Engineering at Edinburgh University in favour of Studying Law. Although he passed the bar and became an advocate in 1875, he knew that his true work was as a writer.

Between 1876 and his death in 1894, Stevenson wrote prolifically. His published essays, short stories, fiction, travel books, plays, letters and poetry number in dozens. The most famous of his works include Travels With A Donkey in the Cevennes (1879), New Arabian Nights (1882), Treasure Island (1883), The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1887), Thrawn Janet (1887) and Kidnapped (1893).

After marrying Fanny Osbourne in 1880 Stevenson continued to travel and to write about his experiences. His poor health led him and his family to Valima in Samoa, where they settled. During his days there Stevenson was known as ‘Tusitala’ or ‘The Story Teller’. His love of telling romantic and adventure stories allowed him to connect easily with the universal child in all of us. ‘Fiction is to grown men what play is to the child,’ he said.

Robert Louis Stevenson died in Valima in 1894 of a brain haemorrhage.

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