A Trio of Poldark Reviews

Ross Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787
by Winston Graham

Ross Poldark (1945) was the first book published by author Winston Graham in the Poldark series which includes twelve additional titles. The characters and plot lines are so well done that it is difficult to put this book down. One of the things that I enjoyed the most about Graham’s writing is that he switches point of view throughout the book, so the reader sees situations from different perspectives. Ross Poldark is not perfect, but he is a man of honor and is willing to fight for the things he believes in. Having returned from the Revolutionary War, we see Ross as someone who has lost everything — his father, his fortune, and his fiance. But Ross is not one to give up. He seeks to re-open the copper mine on his father’s property and rebuild his life. Along the way, Ross learns to love again.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, or Captain Hornblower, by C.S. Forester] 

[ official Winston Graham web site ]

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Poldark: Series One [DVD Poldark] 

After seeing the new Poldark (2015) series on PBS and loving it, I decided to go back and watch the original series produced by the BBC in the early 1970s. Robin Ellis does an outstanding job of portraying the tempermental Captain Ross Poldark who is fighting to regain what had belonged to him before he left Cornwall to fight in America, including his former love, Elizabeth, now engaged to his cousin. Enter Demelza, a poor girl with family issues, as the kitchen wench who becomes the wife of Ross, and teaches him what it means to be compassionate for others. Series one includes all 16 episodes of the first season. Although I love the performance of the actor Robin Ellis, I found that other aspects of the production were not as well done as the newer series. The production does not follow the books as well and adds strange plot lines that simply are not there. It is worth watching this series just to see the fine performance of Robin Ellis, especially in the scene where he fights his nemesis, George Warleggan.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the following books: Ross Poldark, Demelza, Jeremy Poldark, Warleggan, all by Winston Graham.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this series ]

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Poldark: The Complete First Season [DVD Poldark] 

When I first saw this production on PBS in 2015, I had never read any of the Poldark novels by British author Winston Graham. This series which features Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark and Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza changed that for me. I have to admit I have become obsessed with all things Poldark. The film starts out showing Ross as a British soldier in America during the Revolution; he is wounded and captured. The next thing we know, Ross is back in Cornwall, returning home after the British defeat. Seeing how Ross copes with the loss of his father, his fortune and his fiance is just the beginning of this saga that takes us through the struggles of the Poldark family in the late eighteenth century. The best part of this series is the cinematography along the Cornish coast. I also loved the fact that the original actor to play Ross Poldark, Robin Ellis, has the role of Reverend Halse in this new production. The plots and characters are some of the best I have seen in recent PBS productions.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the following books: Ross Poldark, Demelza, Jeremy Poldark, all by Winston Graham.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this series ] | [ PBS Masterpiece’s official Poldark web page ]

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read or watched these? What did you think? Did you find these reviews helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!