The Black Moon

I've been reading Graham Winston's Poldark series pretty much in tandem with the PBS broadcast of the new series. Season 3 started at the beginning of October, and so I read book 5, The Black Moon, which provides the basis for the first half of this season, in September/October.

I have been completely absorbed by baseball playoffs this year, and so have only watched episode 1 of season 3, so I don't know how much they actually include from the book. I do know that I was gnashing my teeth during the first half of episode 1, but settled down and liked it again during the second half.

On to The Black Moon--I think it's the best of the series so far. It was written 20 years after book 4, Warleggan, but it picks up the story shortly after book 4 ended, with the birth of Elizabeth and George Warleggan's son, Valentine, during a total eclipse of the moon. This was a nice literary touch to the story, giving Aunt Agatha lots of fodder for her cursing of the child and George, tagging the eclipse as an omen.

I loved the new characters, Demelza's brothers, Sam (the missionary) and Drake (the charmer) Carne, as well as Elizabeth's cousin, Morwenna Chenoweth.  They provide much needed new story threads, and gave the author the opportunity to educate us on the growth of Methodism in Cornwall.

I also enjoyed learning about the English/French military encounters during the late 1790s, as the English tried to help the displaced French aristocrats battle the Republicans who took over their country in 1789.

A ghost from Ross's past, Tholly Tregirls, also surfaces and plays a major role in the latter half of the book. Tholly is the most definitive pirate since Long John Silver, and promises to be a nice counterpoint to the domesticating influence of Demelza.

I thought Graham was wise to send Ross and his mates off to France to break nice Dr. Enys out of a French prison. It turned the book into a good, old-fashioned adventure story, and it was a relief from the monotony of George's machinations.

Caroline Penvenen and Verity Blamey also have key roles in the story, both of whom are wonderful characters and I so enjoy spending time with them, as different as they are.

I have high hopes for sweet Geoffrey Charles Poldark, son of the late Francis Poldark and Elizabeth. He's bright and I love that he has the mind and interests of an engineer. I predict that he and his friend Drake will team up to do good things in Cornwall in the future. I hope so, at least.

The book ends on a couple of grim notes, which means that book 6 will have a fair amount of sturm und drang, but I love that it is titled The Four Swans, and will focus on the four major women in Ross's life: Demelza, Elizabeth, Morwenna, and Caroline. After book 5 being a boy's adventure story, the women of Cornwall get their book in which to hold center stage.

Now, on to book 6 and resuming season 3 of Poldark...that is once the World Series is over!

Ross Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787

NewsFlash: The Ross Poldark Blog Tour Update

The Ross Poldark Blog Tour has concluded but there is still time to leave comments and enter the giveaway contest until 11:59pm PT, August 10, 2015. And, there is exciting news. PBS has contributed a DVD of season one of Poldark to our list of prizes! Here is the updated prize list with it included:

• (1) DVD of season one of Poldark

• (2 ) Old Britain Castles Pink Pottery Mugs by Johnson Brothers

• (1) Twelve-inch Old Britain Castles Pink Pottery Plater by Johnson Brothers

• (1) London Telephone Box Tin of Ahmad English Breakfast Tea

• (1) Jar of Mrs. Bridges Marmalade

• (1) Package of Duchy Originals Organic Oaten Biscuits

• (2) Packets of Blue Boy Cornflower Seeds by Renee’s Garden Heirloom 
• (1) Trade Paperback Copy of Ross Poldark and Demelza, by Winston Graham

And now...here's my review of Ross Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787

I am so happy to be part of The Ross Poldark Blog Tour, and I'm reviewing the first book in Winston Graham's popular Poldark Saga, Ross Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787.

Reading the first book in a series is sort of like a first date...you know there might be the potential for a long-term relationship (there are 12 books in the Poldark Saga!), but you don't want to commit before you know what you're getting into.

There's the initial attraction - I really enjoy historical fiction, and I'm intrigued by the setting: Cornwall, late 18th century.  And, I knew that BBC/PBS was airing a new mini-series adaptation this summer, and I'm a read-the-book first type-of girl, so I said 'Yes!"

All our friends say we are perfect for each other.  It's amazing how many of my reading friends whose taste I admire popped up to say how much they loved Captain Ross Poldark once the mini-series remake was announced.

There's the getting-to-know-you conversation--I admit I had a few second thoughts when the book opened with the deathbed scene of Ross's father, who is not a very likeable sort.  It's important to know what kind of a family Ross if from--an old family with a respectable name that is facing financial troubles--but I think the screenwriters were smart to skip the prologue and dive straight into Ross's service in the American Revolutionary War (on the side of the Redcoats, of course).

Once we got the backstory out of the way--Ross is heir to a crumbling estate, responsible for a motley crew of household workers and tenant laborers, was jilted by his sweetheart who married his cousin as soon as he returned home from America and the wars--I was hooked.

Ross is a hero without being a paragon of virtue, which makes him a perfect hero!.  He has a big heart, a strong sense of justice and fairness, but has a weakness for burying his troubles in a bottle and being jealous and moody and autocratic.  Thankfully for the plot, he also is usually socially blind, which means he gets entangled in situations that he should've foreseen but didn't.

Case in point, Ross rescues a young female waif, Demelza,  from village louts and an abusive father, takes her home and makes her his kitchen wench.  He cleans her up and makes her a general companion and helpmate, and then is surprised when his neighbors assume he is sleeping with her.

It's this naivete in the face of his military service and rough-and-tumble life that makes Ross so attractive as a main character.  He is just fun to read about.

I also enjoyed the rest of the characters and their stories and how they fit into the life of Ross, especially Demelza.  She is an absolute joy--I was thrilled to discover that book 2 in the series is called Demelza, which is a very good sign indeed.  She has grit and nerve and pluck, but is shy and tender and loyal.

I also loved the setting.  Everything I know about Cornwall, I've learned from Doc Martin and Daphne du Maurier.  So, it was interesting to learn about Cornwall's mining industry and the smuggling (some of which I knew from Frenchman's Creek) tradition.  I loved hearing the regional names and looking them up on Google maps.

As a fan of Jane Austen, it was also really interesting to read about the timeframe during which she was a child--the economic issues, the political issues, and the social issues that were causing the Old Regime to weaken and start to totter.

I am definitely reading book 2 in the series, and I expect you'll be seeing me review the entire Poldark Saga on this blog as time goes by.  I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!