Only read "The Silverado Squatters" thus far. It's a short description of Stevenson and his new wife on honeymoon in the hills near Mt. Saint Helena adjacent to the Napa Valley. Stevenson was quite ill with his bronchial disease; they decided to escape the sea-laden air of San Francisco in search of drier air.
Wonderfully descriptive of the natural beauty of Napa Valley as it was in 1880. Vineyards had been established, one by Mr Schram, 18 years earlier.
The Stevensons occupied the wreckage left behind at the abandoned Silverado mine site and made do with what comforts they could find in the derelict buildings, and being supplied by goods delivered by stage at a nearby Toll House. Stevenson casts a wry eye on the local settlers, shifty, lazy, and deceitful. It's best summed up by Stevenson himself "...dwelt in this quiet corner of the mountains, with not a dozen neighbours, and yet struggled all the while, like desperate swimmers, in this sea of falsities and contradictions. Wherever a man is, there will be a lie."
A satisfying short read.