Goodreads Reviews: Poldark

Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After fighting for England in the Revolutionary War, Captain Ross Poldark is excited to return to his family of home of Nampara, in the small, but lively mining town of Cornwall, England. Except, home is not how he left it. His father has died, leaving the estate in debt and ruins. The town is starving due to the empty mines and no work and his fiancee Elizabeth is engaged to his cousin, Francis Poldark. Of course this engagement is not out of spite, but rather that Elizabeth and all of Cornwall have been under the impression that Ross was killed in war.

All of this, especially Elizabeth's engagement is a massive blow to Ross, but he is hardly one to shrug his shoulders and give up. He returns to his father's farm and puts it back together, he opens up the mines and starts to make investments so people can have employment. And as for Elizabeth, their relationship flounders in and out. Sometimes amiable and other times awkward.

Enter Demelza Carne. An impoverished fourteen year old who has escaped her alcoholic father's abuse. Ross saves Demelza (or actually her dog who was being put up for a dog fight) and out of pity for her situation, takes her in, cleans her up and hires her as a scullery maid. Demelza unexpectedly flourishes under Ross' care and spends the next several years at Nampara, happy to serve her new master.

Eventually, whispers up and down the coast about Ross' pretty young scullery maid begin to get a little loud in Ross' ears. With his family turning against him and his town in despair, Ross makes a decision concerning him and Demelza that could either be his downfall or his salvation.

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I (probably like many other people) had only found out about the Poldark saga due to the BBC drama series of the same name that premiered in 2015. I was surprised to find out how old the Poldark books were and that they have always been very popular. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the book followed the first half of season 1 of the show. The book itself is rich in material and details and above all, wonderful characters from Ross' wealthy family, to the generous working men and women of Cornwall.

Ross is a wonderfully likable character. Certainly not perfect by any means, but is very real in his desire to better his community as well as remain a moral and honorable man. Everyone in Cornwall is in someway touched by the bravery, understanding or downright recklessness of Captain Poldark. In this way the rest of the characters such as the Poldark family, Demelza, the coal mine workers, the families of Cornwall and even Ross' enemies challenge Ross to be better than he believes he can be and to become an unlikely ally and savior to all of Cornwall.