In general, I am very reluctant to take on a series read. What often happens is that you begin the series with great expectations and as it progresses, the writer gets lazy, runs out of storyline, or loses touch with his characters...like a tv series that is on its last leg and is just inventing a reason to continue. THIS IS NOT THE CASE with Winston Graham. He is such a skillful and thoughtful writer that he never gives us an inconsistency in the character that cannot be explained or that is foreign to what he has already told us about them; he finds new plot twists that are in total keeping with the realities of life and seem brilliantly surprising; and he adds new characters when they make sense and has them interact with the old characters without overshadowing them. Everything is so seamless that you cannot believe he did not envision this story in its entirety from the first written line.

I guess it is obvious that I am a fan. The Four Swans is one of the best books in this series, but then I say that about each one as I close it, because this series is always building momentum. It cannot be read in anything other than chronological order and it is twelve books total. So, it is an investment, but oh my does it pay dividends.

Ross and Demelza Poldark are so real to me that I feel I know them intimately, but along with my attachment to the Poldarks themselves, Graham has given us the perfect foil in George Warleggan, a second villain who, for me, defines evil and makes me appreciate that George isn’t quite the bottom of the sludge of life barrel. Elizabeth, whose beauty might be stunning but whose soul needs a little work, epitomizes the woman who has it all and then finds that it is nothing. Dr. Dwight Enys, with whom I am hopelessly enamored, the good man but not the perfect one, and his spirited and witty Caroline; Morweena, Drake and Geoffrey Charles, Sam and Emma, and Hugh Armitage, who managed to break my heart and show me that a sad heart is large enough to include more than one love.

I must say that the joy of reading these books has been increased tenfold by the sharing of it with the wonderful ladies of the RFP group. I sat up way past my bedtime to finish this novel, because I knew that putting it down would ensure that I got no sleep in any case. So, I am on to the next volume and hopes that Mr. Graham can sustain this wonderful ride for me until we reach the farthest shore.
( )

What the hell, Demelza.

The best part of this is Ossie's problem.

Quotable: "Elizabeth almost asked Rowella and Arthur as well; but somehow one just couldn't bring oneself to invite a librarian, not to supper at least, and she knew it would have made George angry." ( )

This was a book about the four main women in the saga--although it got a bit off base off and on I thought. ( )

Struggling with the dark turn this series has taken. All the reviews I'm reading with women gushing how "romantic" it is - seriously?? You're okay with the main character being a rapist and now the local vicar not only being a rapist but a pervert and child molester?? Huh. I suspect you also gobbled up the Fifty Shades trilogy as 'literature' and went in droves to see the smutty film adaptation 🤦‍♀️ ( )

The focus of this Poldark entry is on the four women in Ross's life, Demelza, Elizabeth, Caroline, and Morwenna. Morwenna has been married off to the despicable Osbourne Whitworth despite her love for Demelza's brother Drake, and the marriage is even more unhappy than we could have anticipated. Demelza acquires a young admirer, Hugh, a young naval officer, much to Ross's dismay. Caroline and Dwight are working through issues in their marriage resulting from his need for serious work and her need for leisure. Elizabeth continues to blind herself to the machinations of George Warleggan, as he nurtures his suspicions about Valentine's parentage.

4 stars ( )