The Half-Hearted

The Half-Hearted is a 1900 novel of romance and adventure by John Buchan, in which the social expectations of the main characters shape the paths they must tread. The novel follows the life of Lewis Haystoun, a young Scottish laird, who finds himself unable to commit wholeheartedly to any course of action. His failure to seize the opportunity results in the woman he loves agreeing to marry a rival. Determined to face up to what he considers to be his cowardice, Haystoun departs for the Empire's north west frontier where he dies attempting to hold a narrow mountain pass single-handedly against an invading Cossack army.