Sir Walter Besant and Dorothy Forster (1884)

Abstract

The broad outlines of Stevenson’s career are well enough known; they need not be reviewed in order to set The Master of Ballantrae within the context of Stevenson’s life. However, the case of Sir Walter Besant (1836–1901) may be different in this respect. Time has blurred most readers’ understanding of the magnitude of his contribution to Victorian literature. Before I come to a consideration of Dorothy Forster, Besant’s most important historical romance, it seems useful to look back, however briefly, on the record of an extraordinarily busy writer.