In the final volume of the Poldark saga, Bella Poldark begins to explore a career on the stage and struggles with determining if and who to marry. Meanwhile, Clowance is unsure if she ever can trust a man again after Stephen's betrayal and death. Ross continues to butt heads with George Warleggan, with Valentine often lending fuel to the the fire.

I was astounded to discover that this final book in the series was published in 2002 (when Winston Graham was 94), 60 years after the publication of the first book in the series. Graham's writing is amazingly consistent and compelling throughout the series. As always I was delighted to fall back in with the Poldarks as they face the never ending joys and challenges of life in Cornwall. Graham also manages to tie up loose ends without making the novel feel too pat and I was thoroughly satisfied as I completed the final page. If you enjoy historical fiction, I highly recommend this entire saga. ( )

The twelfth and last book of the Poldark series, Bella Poldark is a fitting and satisfying end to a saga that has spanned several decades and multiple generations of the Poldarks of Cornwall. Packed with story lines all its own, it still manages to tie up all the central characters and give one a sense that things have come to a completion. At the same time, there is a sense that life, as it always does, goes on.

Near the end, Demelza (perhaps my favorite character among all those I have loved in this series) states “I have only one regret--and that is that time just goes too fast.” It struck me that this echoes my feelings about this series of books….they just went too fast. I am not ready to relinquish either the characters or the story. I dare say I will be thinking about them for some time to come.

I can positively say that Winston Graham was a writer extraordinaire. How many people could write a series of books that cover this much territory and never make a misstep or get lost? Each of these people has a certain character when we meet them, and while each of them grows and changes, as people do, we never feel that they have become someone we do not recognize or that they have done something impossibly out of keeping with who they are. That is difficult when the writing is contiguous, amazing when you consider that Graham wrote these books over a span of some 70 years, with a gap of 20 years between the fourth and the fifth installment. Boggles the mind.

Having checked, I can see that his other works are hard to come by, but I will be watching and if one of them ever comes within my range, I will snap it up. If you are thinking of reading this series, please dive right in, you will find the water is FINE.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that reading this with my GR friend, Lori, made it all the more special. It was wonderful to know that every time I murmured an “Oh, God, No” or found myself with tears streaking my face, there was a kindred soul out there feeling the same. A treasure shared is a treasure doubled, Lori...you made this experience twice as rich.

I am all pumped for the third season of the PBS series now and will only regret that the story on PBS will end long before the actual story has been told. I do wish they would take it all the way through to the end, but as it is, I will be grateful to have read the entire series and to know the rest of the story that transpires after the credits roll.
( )

**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 five 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.) ( )

A lady ahead of her time--Bella goes on to be an actress! A lot of this book deals with Napoleon and the wars over in Europe. Little heavy on the history. ( )

Alas, the end of Poldark! This was a satisfactory wrapping up of the series. Bella's story seemed relatively trivial at times and the murder mystery out of character for its artificial suspense, but I still enjoyed both. I can't wait for more seasons of this show; for once the books and production are worthy of each other. ( )