The Silverado Squatters Stevenson, Robert Louis

From the Publisher:

"The scene of this little book is on a high mountain. Its naked peak stands nearly four thousand five hundred feet above the sea; its sides are fringed with forest; and the soil, where it is bare, glows warm with cinnabar."

Taken from the diaries Robert Louis Stevenson kept during a unique period, The Silverado Squatters is punctuated with colorful portrayals of quirky and eccentric inhabitants and fascinating descriptions of the daily trials of living simply in the wild. This is a remarkably personal and revealing memoir by one of the most-loved writers in American history. Suffering from bronchitis and newly married, Stevenson and his wife went to the Mayacamas Mountains of California for an unconventional honeymoon. For two months, the couple lived an an abandoned millhouse on the shoulder of Mt. Saint Helena, where bears roamed and fierce winds blew into the valley. Aftering recovering from his illness, Stevenson was inspired to write these diaries, which will be a revelation for readers of travel writing and fans of Stevenson alike.

Author Bio

Robert Louis Stevenson

Stevenson's life was almost as adventurous as the stories he created. He spent much of it as a traveler, writing about his exploits in such exemplary travel books as TRAVELS WITH A DONKEY IN THE CEVENNES. He studied law but never practiced; he always wanted to write, and gave himself what amounted to a writing course, studying and copying the style and techniques of his favorite writers. His attempts paid off: his first published novel, TREASURE ISLAND, brought him money and fame. At 29 he fell in love with a married woman--alienating his family--and pursued her to California, where she divorced her husband, after which the couple married and traveled extensively in the U.S., visiting various spas and health resorts in search of a cure for the tuberculosis from which Stevenson suffered all his life. After extensive travel in the South Seas, he finally settled in Samoa, where he became involved in the lives and politics of the islanders. During all his wanderings, he continued to write, producing a total of 12 novels, many short tales, three plays, poetry (including the classic A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES), and dozens of books of essays and travel pieces. He died in Samoa at 44--suddenly, of apoplexy, as he was making a salad for dinner--leaving his last book, THE WEIR OF HERMISTON, unfinished.

BloomReach Content

The Silverado Squatters A Sojourn in Napa County, California, in the Summer of 1880 (Paperback)

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