Many of Scott's novels raid the real events of Scottish history for their settings and plots, and the action in The Heart of Midlothian begins with the Porteous Riots of 1736. These took place in Edinburgh after several people, part of a crowd gathered to witness an execution, were shot dead by the city guard, commanded by Captain John Porteous. Porteous was thought to have given the fatal orders without provocation and, when he was acquitted of wrongdoing, a mob dragged him from the Tolbooth prison - the Heart of Midlothian of Scott's title - and hanged him in the city's Grass Market. Into these genuine historical events Scott weaves his own story of the two half-sisters, Jennie and Effie Deans. Effie is the lover of George Staunton, one of the leaders of the rioters, and she herself is incarcerated in the Tolbooth where she awaits trial for the supposed murder of her illegitimate child. Jeanie has the opportunity to clear her sister's name but to do so would mean lying and she cannot bring herself to speak anything but the truth. Instead she sets out to walk to London to seek a royal pardon for Effie. On her journey she encounters Madge Wildfire, Staunton's former mistress, and her mother, who have kidnapped the child Effie is thought to have killed. The so-called Waverley novels (Scott wrote more than twenty, including such well-known titles as Ivanhoe, Quentin Durward and Rob Roy) were the bestsellers of their time and they more or less began the tradition of historical fiction which has continued to the present day. Enormously influential throughout Europe and America, they were imitated by many writers, from Dumas to Fenimore Cooper, and were adapted into countless theatrical and operatic versions during the 19th century. Today they have lost most of their popularity but The Heart of Midlothian is still a book that combines a compelling recreation of the past with characters whose human and moral dilemmas carry a lasting resonance.

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