I added this book to my Kindle for my trip because I’ve had it on my to read list for a while, and since I was actually going to Cornwall, it seemed like the perfect time to read it. And it was.
Ross Poldark has been off in America, fighting in the Revolutionary War (which of course is not what they call it, but I have that name cemented in my head, so that’s what I’m going with). In the meantime, his father has died, and Ross himself is believed to be dead, so when he comes home, his fiancée is engaged to another man (Ross’s cousin, no less).
This story is really about learning how to rebuild your life when it seems like it’s totally over. Ross still has to see Elizabeth regularly – she is now his cousin, after all, and he has responsibilities to his house and tenants, which were neglected after his father died. There’s also the larger story of the Poldark family going on here, which I’m definitely interested in reading more of, but the Kindle price of the next book is $10.99, which for a book that’s been out for a long time is highway robbery. So I’ll have to track down Demelza in paper form.
I did love that I read this book while I was in Cornwall. Ross’s property has a mine on it (it’s how his family made their money), and mines are called Wheals in Cornish. We drove by a road sign to a Wheal the next day, and I actually knew what that meant. I also had a much better sense of the landscape while I was reading it – a definite treat.