Review: Rob Roy (novel)

Believe it or not, it's possible (but very rare) for a book's plot to be implausible, contrived and poorly-thought-out... and for the book to still be interesting and enjoyable. This is one of those books.

Rob Roy is an 1817 novel by Sir Walter Scott. It's part of his Waverley series (which isn't a series in the modern sense; the books have similar settings and themes, not the same characters or stories). Several films with the book's title have been made, but none of them are actual adaptations of it.

Despite being the title character, Rob Roy isn't the narrator or the main character. He doesn't even appear until a quarter of the way through. Instead the main character is Frank Osbaldistone. A disagreement with his father leads to Frank being sent to stay with his uncle, while his sinister cousin Rashleigh takes his place in his father's business. Unsurprisingly Rashleigh turns out to be a crook, and Frank ends up fleeing to Scotland in search of some way to undo the damage Rashleigh's done. Along the way he meets and is helped by Rob Roy, and falls in love with the mysterious Diana Vernon.

The plot, as already mentioned, is by far the weakest part of the story. The characters aren't much better. Rob Roy is the only one who truly leaves an impression. Frank was so dull that I couldn't even remember his name after I finished the book. Diana is an interesting character but an unconvincing love interest. And Rashleigh, the main villain, is offstage (off-page?) for most of the story.

Most irritating of all are the frequent -- and lengthy -- paragraphs written entirely in a nigh-incomprehensible Scottish accent. You'd need a translator to understand half of what Andrew Fairservice says.

Yet in spite of all these drawbacks, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The story is so exciting that you hardly notice how contrived the events are. I knew at the start that it was going to end with Frank marrying Diana and Rashleigh getting his just desserts, but it was still entertaining to see how that happened.

If you don't mind wading through the elaborate prose (to say nothing of the Scottish accents) and just want to read a fun historical novel without too much plot, this is the book for you!

Is it available online?: Yes, on Gutenberg.

Rating: 7/10.