Being a fan of the current BBC adaptation(which also airs on PBS and the fourth season is due by the end of this September), reading these books provides a bit of a refresher course to the show, which takes two of the novels at a time for one season.
However, that doesn't mean that I don't get anything new out of the books. In fact, it allows me to develop different insights into certain characters and why I feel about them the way I do. To explain that best, I'm highlighting three of the major female characters in this particular book to show cause about how I view them the way I do:
Yes, he's a terrible person and complete enemy of Ross yet even she can't deny that George is a good prospect. For one thing, Elizabeth has no interest in running the estate or dealing with all of the responsibilities that go with it and George is more than willing to handle that.
Also,her mother becomes seriously ill and the additional work that caring for both of her parents(as well as her son and Aunt Agatha) demands is a lot for anyone to deal with even if that person wished to or was financially able to do so in the first place. Elizabeth is low on funds as well as inclination and in that light, George's proposal is a welcome relief.
When Ross confronts her about marrying Warleggan(in a night time visit that's as controversial as that night Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara had at one point in Gone With The Wind), she does make a good point about being expected to be a lonely widow for years on end.
In a weird way, she and George had something in common-a major fixation with Ross Poldark. While their reasons are very different for that, neither one of them can just get over what past they had with him and go on with their lives. Elizabeth does have one advantage over Warleggan, the fact that he does truly love her(in his own way) and is willing to be her fool in that regard . That's going to help her out as a certain family event is waiting in the wings that promises to be a game changer for them both:
While Caroline is occasionally generous, as when she anonymously helps Ross get out of debt with the Warleggans, she is too concerned with her own needs before anyone else's, especially when it comes to Dwight Enys.
She easily rationalizes eloping with Enys, despite his own reluctance in the interest of propriety, and then when he is unable to meet up with her on that fateful night first due to a medical call and then to save Ross and company from an ambush, Caroline flatly refuses to try again. Why?
Well, she tells Ross some time later than it bothered her that Dwight was willing to put someone else before her, even after Dwight fully explained what had happened. Caroline, the man is a doctor and there are times when his calling demands his complete focus-must you be so in need of constant attention there? Also, he risked quite a bit to help Ross in a moment of crisis and isn't that very quality one of the reasons that you like Dwight to begin with?
As the book ends, Dwight and Caroline are about to give their relationship another chance and I suppose I wish them well but can't help wishing that Caroline was in a different series altogether:
While she is willing to proclaim her trust in his fidelity, Demelza is well aware of what is about to happen when Ross learns of Elizabeth's agreeing to marry Warleggan and his determination to walk out their door forcefully that night is a true slap in the face.
Her anger is extremely justified and while in the book she doesn't punch him out as that particular scene in Season Two showed(she does sort of flip a table instead), Demelza firmly holds on to her fury there. Sadly, it's mixed with some insecurity due to her social status but I do like how it takes Demelza a good long while before she even considers forgiving him(and not completely at that!).
On top of that, when Demelza and Ross share their stories on this subject, Ross thinks that it's worse for her to have a brief encounter with another man than for him to be with Elizabeth since he actually has feelings for Elizabeth! Uh,Ross-let me tell you something there-THAT ONLY MAKES IT WORSE, especially for your wife!!!
They do move past it somewhat, but the one change from the book on the current series is a vast improvement on the source material. I only wish the literary Demelza was given that moment to knock her ungrateful husband down for the count as well:
However, I am properly prepared for the new season of Poldark and will probably end my Series-ous Reading with the next book in the series, The Black Moon. I should get the next couple of books after that but not until season four is done with in order to be surprised by what's to come.
In the meanwhile, my latest Series-ous Reading title is the first in a foodie mystery series by Ellie Alexander. Meet Your Baker has it's heroine Juliet Capshaw involved in a mix of murder,Shakespeare and baking that ought to be a tasty treat to enjoy the upcoming flavors of fall with:
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