Robert Lewis (later Louis) Balfour Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850, in Edinburgh, Scotland, to a family of established middle-class professionals. His father, Thomas Stevenson, and grandfather, Robert Stevenson, were both engineers who specialized in the construction of lighthouses and breakwaters. Stevenson's mother, Margaret Isabella Balfour, came from a long line of ministers.

Wood portrays Stevenson as a person uncertain of his identity, always trying on new roles and costumes. An invalid for much of his childhood and young manhood, Stevenson had ample time to invent adventurous dream worlds for himself. When his health permitted, he traveled about the world, putting his frail physique to tests—such as a journey across the western U.S. by wagon train—that nearly killed him. Stevenson likewise pushed himself as a writer, working hard to perfect his style. Wood maintains that as Stevenson matured as a...