Book info

• Title Ross Poldark
• Author Winston Graham
• Year 1945
• Genres Historical, Romance

Tired from a grim war in America, Ross Poldark returns to his land and his family. But the joyful homecoming he has anticipated turns sour, for his father is dead, his estate is derelict and the girl he loves is engaged to his cousin. But his sympathy for the destitute miners and farmers of the district leads him to rescue a half-starved urchin girl from a fairground brawl and take her home - an act which alters the whole course of his life...

Review

I don’t remember why I bought this because I haven’t yet seen the TV show and was only vaguely aware of the phenomenon. But I’m glad I did buy it because it was actually a really good read. I wouldn’t have said that historical Cornish fiction would be my cup of tea, but I liked it. There’s a detached way of telling the story that I really like, whilst we sometimes get a glimpse inside the character’s head, for the most part we have to infer what their motivation is.

Ross isn’t the most sympathetic of characters, whilst a good guy at heart, he’s rough around the edges and I’m sure that’s why a lot of people respond to him. I liked the variety of characters we stumbled across - well to do family members, middling mining neighbours, protesting miners, and oft-drunk servants. The variety really pulled the chapters along.

I liked the book enough that now I want to a) read the second book and b) watch the TV show so I can see what happens next!

Rating: 5 / 5