This volume, the eleventh in the series, is a sword that twists in your heart. Set in the last days of Bonaparte’s reign, it captures all the tension and fear that war can produce when it spills over into and affects the lives of so many people in so many countries. On a personal level for Graham's characters, it highlights all the missteps that await everyone and can wreak havoc in a heart and a life.

Graham continues to follow the second generation, but he does so without losing touch with the first. We see Demelza and Ross dealing with all the pressures, hopes and heartaches that come with having grown children and watching them feel their own ways into the future. My mother always said it was much harder having grown children than having small ones. When they are small we fear they will hurt themselves, but most of the perils are within our control. When they are grown, all the perils and choices are their own, and we often watch with a heavy heart as they seem to make all the wrong choices we have warned them against.

I will not reveal any of the plot of this book, as I have tried to reveal nothing of the specifics in any of the previous ten. I will say that I closed it with a broken heart, that mirrored the hearts of so many of the characters I have come to love. My time with the Poldarks is rapidly coming to an end and I am going to miss them. I have grown to genuinely love these very human individuals, who display all that is wonderful in humanity and all that is flawed. Winston Graham has an ability to see into the soul and not once in all these pages has he lost the thread of the story, made a character do something “out of character”, or written a superfluous word. That is approximately 5500 pages of excellent storytelling so far, and that is quite an accomplishment.

I want to thank my reading companion, Lori, who has traveled this road with me, step by step, and has made a pleasurable reading experience all the more so for being there to share it with me.


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It is the beginning of 1815 and Ross is asked by some of his colleagues in parliament to travel to France and get a sense of the mood of the French army in the wake of the end of the war. To make the visit look more social he's encouraged to bring along Demelza and their two younger children. But while Ross and Demelza enjoy all the delights of Paris, Napoleon returns from Elba. Events are set in motion that will threaten the whole Poldark clan including Jeremy who is stationed with the British army in Brussels. Meanwhile in Cornwall, Stephen and Clowance settle into married life and find new hurdles lie ahead of them in their happily ever after.

The penultimate volume in the Poldark saga holds all the charms of the early volumes of the series and I settled back in with these characters with ease. While Ross and Demelza have settled (mostly), there is still plenty of drama in their lives and that of their community. Graham manages to write a novel that includes the Battle of Waterloo that doesn't bore me to tears with battle details. While he provides enough to satisfy those interested in it, it's not so detailed that readers like me who couldn't care less about regiment movements and how many horses were killed out from under which general are put off. While a few of the plot elements didn't entirely surprise me, it was still lovely to see what Graham did with his characters in the wake of them. I'm looking forward to seeing how he wrapped up the series in the final volume. ( )

This is book 11/12 in the [Poldark] series. This book was both the best and the least interesting (in parts) of all the books. Two of the main characters lost their lives in this book. The parts about the battle maneuvers at Waterloo were less than interesting and seemed to go on interminably. But all in all, a very excellent read. ( )

**This review actually refers to five books in this series: Stranger From the Sea, The Miller's Dance, The Loving Cup, The Twisted Sword & Bella Poldark**


I really have no clue what rock I was living under....I have no excuse. But, up until recently, I had no idea the Poldark series on television is based on a series of books! I love sweeping historical family sagas. I have no earthly clue how I missed this one! Rectifying the situation immediately!

There are 12 books in the Poldark Saga, written by Winston Graham from 1945-2002. The books are set in Cornwall, starting with Ross Poldark in 1783 and ending with Bella Poldark in 1820.

It's official -- I love this series! And I'm reading my way through all of the books before I watch the television series. I have a rule that before I can watch a film or television adaptation, I have to read the books first. Then I'm acquainted with the characters and can see what they changed/added/kept true to the original, etc. There are actually two Poldark television series. One from BBC in the 1970s that serialized the first seven books. And then the newer series that started in 2015. There have been five seasons of the new show. I can't wait to watch it! Still reading my way through the books first...and enjoying every page!

The four books listed here are books #8-12 of the series. I had review copies of all 5 novels and read them cover to cover. Binge read them, to be honest. I love the characters...the setting....the history. I had to stop periodically and look some things up as I'm not familiar with the time period or history of Cornwall at all. The one problem with reviewing books is that I'm under a deadline. With historical fiction or family sagas, I like to take my time and let the story sink in and savor the characters. But with five books to read, and not having read the first books in the series beforehand, I was a bit lost in names, places, etc. The story was enough to carry me through! I loved every book!

I'm backtracking now and reading the series from the start....and I will re-read these books when I come back around to them. I will have an even better understanding of the characters and history during my second reading! And then I can watch the television show. I'm curious which books it has already covered and which ones are upcoming -- whether it stays true to the books or goes off course, etc.

Great books! I highly recommend this series to any readers who enjoy historical fiction, family sagas, and just history in general!

Love, love, love! :) Here are some extra exclamation points in case I did not make it clear that I enjoy this series: !!!!!!!!

**I read review copies of these novels from St Martins Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.)
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Warning: This review contains spoilers.

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It’s 1815, and the Poldarks are going to France. Ross has been asked to travel to Paris and send reports on the French armed forces, and his family will provide suitable cover to make it not look like a spy mission. But events overtake them: Napoelon escapes and returns to France, and suddenly Jeremy and Geoffrey Charles have some proper fighting on their hands. Then there are the domestic dramas: Stephen Carrington’s money making, the story of Katie Carter and Music Thomas, Valentine’s interest in his parentage, and the changing fortunes of the Warleggans.

There’s so much going on here, and some of it is heartbreaking even as you see it coming. Cuby’s pregnant and Jeremy has to go off and fight? Uh-oh, he’s going to die. And then he does, and you’re trying not to cry big fat tears on the bus. Less predictable was Stephen Carrington’s death, although that was a bit of a relief for me because I’ve never really forgiven him for what seemed like possessive sexual behaviour toward Clowance. Not surprised if he does turn out to have been a bigamist.

This book ties up a fair number of threads and opens a few others. Looking forward to reading about Bella Poldark in the next and last book of the series. ( )