11 h 42 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A borrowed coat may hide a fugitive, but what can hide a French soldier in love?
In Robert Louis Stevenson's St. Ives, Anne de Saint-Yves is a French nobleman serving as a common soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. Held in Edinburgh Castle, he is proud, witty and determined to escape. Then Flora Gilchrist visits with her aunt, and the clever, steady young woman becomes the centre of his hopes.
Beyond the castle walls lie the roads of Scotland and England, false names and strangers who might be informers. Saint-Yves must keep his disguises straight while love pulls him toward danger. His uncle's fortune adds another stake, with his cousin Alain a rival heir. Through it all, the fugitive tells his story with humour, even at his own expense.
What you’ll discover
- An escape worth attempting Enter a castle where freedom depends on wit, timing and a few trusted helpers.
- Love that invites danger Meet Flora Gilchrist, whose place in Saint-Yves's hopes makes escape more than a flight to safety.
- Borrowed clothes, shifting names Follow a fugitive who must make each new identity hold up before watchful strangers.
- A companion on the road Travel with Rowley, the loyal, practical servant who becomes Saint-Yves's helper and companion.
- Pride with a smile Enjoy a narrator who laughs at himself while his adventures raise questions of honour.
Who will love it
For readers who love swift plots, historical settings and a charming narrator, and anyone who enjoys Stevenson's Kidnapped or Treasure Island.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A French prisoner in Edinburgh Castle
- A visit that changes his plans
- The escape from the castle
- A family fortune and a rival heir
- Disguise, pursuit and the roads of England
- Honour, love and a narrator who laughs
Who’s who
- Anne de Saint-YvesA young French nobleman serving as a common soldier, held prisoner in Edinburgh, witty and proud, who is set on escaping.
- Flora GilchristA clever, steady Scottish young woman who meets the prisoner at the castle and becomes the center of his hopes.
- Ronald GilchristFlora's brother, part of the Scottish family whose lives become tied to the fugitive's fate.
- RowleyA loyal, practical English servant who becomes the hero's companion and helper on the road.
- The Comte de Keroual de Saint-YvesThe hero's elderly uncle, a French nobleman living in England, whose fortune and favour matter to the family.
- AlainThe hero's cousin and rival heir to the uncle's estate.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 11 h 42 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Saint-Yves
by Robert Louis Stevenson · 1897
A French prisoner escapes Edinburgh Castle, but love draws him back toward danger as he crosses Britain in disguise.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
St. Ives is an adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, set in the years of the Napoleonic Wars.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A French prisoner in Edinburgh Castle
The story opens in the castle on its great rock above Edinburgh, where French prisoners of war are kept. Among them is Anne de Keroual de Saint-Yves, a nobleman by birth who serves as a common soldier in Napoleon's army. He is called Champdivers in the prison, a name that hides his rank. The prisoners pass the time with small trades, with gambling and with old stories of the Emperor.
One of the voices in the prison is the soldier Goguelat, who tells tales of Napoleon's campaigns to whoever will listen. These scenes give the reader a quick picture of the men, their pride, their quarrels and their homesickness. Stevenson uses the crowded prison to show that these enemies are ordinary people, with tempers and jokes and loyalties of their own.
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What is St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson about?
It tells of a French soldier held prisoner in Edinburgh Castle during the Napoleonic Wars. He escapes and travels in disguise through Scotland and England, chased by the authorities and drawn by love and by a family inheritance.
Did Stevenson finish St. Ives?
No. Stevenson was still writing it when he died in 1894. Arthur Quiller-Couch completed the novel, and it was published in 1897.
Is St. Ives a true story?
No, it is a work of fiction. It is set during the Napoleonic Wars, when many French soldiers were held as prisoners in Britain, and it uses that real background for an invented adventure.
The author
Robert Louis Stevenson
1850–1894 · Scottish novelist and poet
Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist and poet, born in Edinburgh in 1850. He wrote Treasure Island (1883), A Child’s Garden of Verses (1885), and Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). He settled in Samoa in 1890 and died there in 1894.
More by Robert Louis Stevenson
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