Secrets and Lies and a Man to Despise

I've now read six of Winston Graham's twelve Poldark novels, the latest being 'The Four Swans' and I'm already chomping at the bit for both the next book and BBC series.

'The Four Swans'
by Winston Graham
(2008, Pan Macmillan)

Still waters run deep in 'The Four Swans'.  While his mine's prosperity should mean the end of all Ross Poldark's worries, instead the political machinations of others and a naval officer's infatuation with his wife Demelza give him much cause for concern.  George Warleggan looks like he's reaching the heights of power and influence, but Aunt Agatha's final curse has made him doubt the woman he prized and married.  Meanwhile, Demelza's unfortunate brothers Sam and Drake are naively trying to live quiet lives and the lecherous Rev. Osborne Whitworth is failing to practise what he preaches.  As truth, love and lies tangles each relationship, will anyone break free to find happiness?

By its very nature, a series of books must be populated by a swathe of characters otherwise there just aren't enough plot lines to go around.  But it does make summarising what happened in one particular novel quite challenging!  The paragraph above barely hints at what's going on, but, to be fair, all you really need to know is that if you enjoyed the previous books, you'll enjoy this one.

Although...  If you thought Rev. Whitworth couldn't get any worse, it turns out he can.  Never have I wanted a character to come to a sticky end as much as Rev. Whitworth.  I keep being told by people who've read the whole series that he'll get his comeuppance, but I'm not sure how much longer I can wait for it to happen!  I know that Graham is representing 18th century attitudes to women, but rarely has a character made me so angry.  Goodness knows how the BBC are going to cope with his plot line in series three bearing in mind what happened with 'that scene' in series two!

Anyway, overall, 'The Four Swans' is of the same, high quality as the previous Poldark novels and will give fans much to mull over.  It's as engrossing as the other books and progresses the stories of all the key characters.  I ended it wanting more, but that's fine because there are another six books to go!

Now, back to the shelves!

Related Posts

'Ross Poldark' (Book One)
'Demelza' (Book Two)
'Warleggan' (Book Four)
'The Black Moon' (Book Five)