The Heart of Midlothian, set between the two Jacobean insurrections in 1736 and during the Porteous Riots, marks the peak of its author"s achievement; many consider it to be Scott"s national epic. Jeanie Deans, the young woman protagonist, takes on a world, bearing the troubles of her family, her community, and her nation on her back. The result is a great and obviously lasting novel. . . .