Later in life, Fanny would reflect on this moment in their lives, thinking back on what inspired Stevenson’s marathon effort, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. There was something else, too, and Fannie knew it: “his memories of Deacon Brodie.”Who Was Deacon Brodie? (As a child, Stevenson, also an Edinburgh native, had a Brodie-made bookcase and chest of drawers in his room.) They produced a five-act play, Deacon Brodie, or, The Double Life, which took some significant liberties with the deacon’s escapades. Stevenson’s dialogue was not dagger sharp, and Deacon Brodie flopped almost immediately after opening in Bradford, England, shortly after Christmas 1882.

Source: Forbes October 25, 2019 21:22 UTC