Waverly by Sir Walter Scott

Waverly was a good read, but it didn't grab my interest like so many English novels have in the past several months.

There was a time during the first third of the book when I thought I would love it.  I really came to believe that Edward Waverly was going to wholeheartedly join the Scottish Highlanders in their Jacobite uprising against the British authorities, become a true war hero and wind up with the heart of Flora Mac-Ivor.

But apparently I didn't know my history - this is a historical novel after all - and I didn't have the context to understand that the uprising actually failed to re-install the Stuarts to power.  It was actually quite a miserable failure in the end.  Flora would only take Edward if he was victorious, and this was simply not to be.

I've read about other Jacobite uprisings.  Oliver Cromwell's story was filled with them, of course, and Charles Dickens' historical novel Barnaby Rudge centers on the Gordon Riots, a Catholic uprising in the 1780s.  I should know by now that none of them actually succeed in the long run.

The story is largely that of Waverly's choice between embracing his English roots or joining the Scots and other supporters of the Stuart dynasty in their attempt to re-install Charles Edward Stuart to the English throne.  The story arc follows his wavering back and forth.  I suppose that's why Scott named him Waver-ly.

I enjoyed the Scottish culture that was brought to life in the story.  It's richness was contrasted with English society in a way that actually enhanced both, without compromising either.

But Scott lost me when Flora turned down Edward's proposal and it became immediately evident that the story was taking a different turn.  Rather than becoming the valiant war hero, Waverly soon began to see the shortcomings of the revolutionists.  Their infighting, backbiting and lack of consistent principles soured him to the cause.

Like all English novels he married the (British) girl in the end, and all is well.

I'm glad I read it, but I'm just as glad to move on in my exploration of the history and development of the English novel genre.