The Master of Ballantrae is a Gothic romance of adventure and revenge. Brothers Henry and James Durie take opposite sides during the Jacobite uprising of 1745 to ensure the survival of their estate regardless of the outcome of the war. Believing that James had died along with the hopes of the Stuarts at the Battle of Culloden, Henry acquires his brothers property. However, things are not so simple. Throughout the next four years "there was a shadow on that house, the shadow of the Master of Ballantrae."