The Master of Ballantrae – Robert Louis Stevenson

"I have done my best for that boy."

The Durie family is torn apart by the Jacobite rising of 1745. The charismatic but wicked elder brother, James (the Master), goes to fight for the Prince, while the quiet, dutiful younger brother, Henry, stays home to preserve the estate. When James returns, supposedly dead, he begins a campaign of psychological persecution against Henry that spans continents and years, destroying them both.

Stevenson's novel is a dark, tragic study of fraternal hatred. It explores the ambiguity of evil, as the 'good' brother is driven to madness and the 'bad' brother exerts a fascinating, destructive power.