The Heart of Mid-Lothian

Description

The Heart of Mid-Lothian is a novel by Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1818. The book, the seventh in the Waverley Novels, is set in the 18th century and is set in motion by the Porteous Riots that occurred in Edinburgh in 1736. The primary plot tells the story of two sisters, Jeanie and Effie Deans, and their contrasting fortunes. George Staunton, a young nobleman, leads a mob that storms the prison and lynches Captain Porteous. He also tries to free Effie, his lover, who has been imprisoned for allegedly murdering her baby. However, Effie refuses to escape, as it would imply guilt. Reuben Butler, a young minister in love with Jeanie, sees Effie's refusal to escape, which convinces Jeanie of her sister's innocence. After her sister is sentenced to death, Jeanie decides to walk to London to beg a royal pardon, and on the way, she finds the truth of what happened to her sister's baby. This element of the novel was based on a story Scott claimed to have received in an unsigned letter. It was about a certain Helen Walker who had travelled all the way to London by foot, to receive a royal pardon for her sister, who was unjustly charged with infanticide. The Heart of Mid-Lothian was originally published in four volumes under the series title Tales of My Landlord, which itself is a subset of the Waverley Novels.

№ 7 in the Waverley Novels.

№ 71 in Goodreads 100 Best Nineteenth-Century British and Irish Novels.

This book has 238,886 words, 393 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1818.

Production notes: This ebook of The Heart of Mid-Lothian was published by Global Grey in 2019, and updated on the 24th April 2023. The artwork used for the cover is 'Portrait of Mrs. Robert Scott Moncrieff' by Henry Raeburn.