Ross Poldark/Demelza by Winston Graham (The Poldark Saga #1 and #2) - Blog Tour and Giveaway

“If Jane Austen met Charlotte Bronte and they drank too much port, the Poldark Saga would be their literary love child.” — Poldarkian.com  

Captain Ross Poldark rides again in the new Sourcebooks Landmark tie-in editions of Ross Poldark and Demelza, the first two novels in the acclaimed Poldark Saga by Winston Graham, adapted into the inaugural season of the new Masterpiece Classic PBS’s series Poldark, airing June 21 – August 2 on PBS.

In celebration, July 6th through August 3rd, The Ross Poldark Blog Tour will visit thirty popular book blogs specializing in historical, romance and Austenesque fiction. Featuring spotlights, previews, excerpts and book reviews of these two acclaimed historical fiction novels, the tour will also offer readers a chance at a fabulous giveaway contest including copies of the books and a stunning Anglophile-themed prize package (details below).

In the first novel in Winston Graham’s hit series, a weary Ross Poldark returns to England from war, looking forward to a joyful homecoming with his beloved Elizabeth. But instead he discovers his father has died, his home is overrun by livestock and drunken servants, and Elizabeth—believing Ross to be dead—is now engaged to his cousin. Ross has no choice but to start his life anew.

Thus begins the Poldark series, a heartwarming, gripping saga set in the windswept landscape of Cornwall. With an unforgettable cast of characters that spans loves, lives, and generations, this extraordinary masterwork from Winston Graham is a story you will never forget.

In the enchanting second novel in Winston Graham’s beloved Poldark series, Demelza Carne, an impoverished miner’s daughter Ross Poldark rescued from a fairground brawl, now happily finds herself his wife. But the events of these turbulent years test their marriage and their love. As Ross launches into a bitter struggle for the right of the mining communities, Demelza’s efforts to adapt to the ways of the gentry (and her husband) place her in increasingly odd and embarrassing situations. When tragedy strikes and sows the seeds of an enduring rivalry between Ross and the powerful George Warleggan, will Demelza manage to bridge their differences before they destroy her and her husband’s chance at happiness? 

Against the stunning backdrop of eighteenth century Cornwall, Demelza sweeps readers into one of the greatest love stories of all time.


Have you read all your Jane Austen novels, including the juvenilia, several times?  Read all your Brontes?  Are you running out of Georgette Heyer novels?  Specifically, did you like the historical sweep of An Infamous Army?  Hankering for a bit of Dickensian social justice?  But are you a bit hesitant to jump into a long, more military historical series like Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series or CS Forrester's Horatio Hornblower?

Winston Graham's Poldark Saga is a happy medium, then.  The vivid, snapping characterizations and dialogue of an Austen, the emotional reach of a Bronte, the historical accuracy of a Heyer, the crusading reform of a Dickens, and the long-ranging sweep of time like O'Brian and Forrester.  Graham Winston brings late-Georgian Cornwall to life with the tale of Ross Poldark's homecoming, his disappointment, and his struggle to remain on the land that is his birthright and do right by his family, tenants, and laborers in the first book of the saga, Ross Poldark.  It is a novel of class differences, family loyalty, and betrayal.  It is a novel of a changing England as it moves into the Industrial age.  In this way, the Poldark novels, much as they are set in an England that had just lost it's American colonies, reflect both our society as it was in post-World War II Britain and look forward to our own time.  Our changing economies, the struggles of the lower social class against an upper class who look down and blame the poor, the struggle for a woman to have her own life and autonomy, and the struggle for appropriate justice.

Set against this backdrop is a romance for the ages and it is delicious.  Ross is appropriately broody and conflicted, Elizabeth is appropriately spoiled and needy, Francis is appropriately bratty, and Demelza is appropriately sassy and courageous.  Demelza picks up where Ross Poldark ends and so on through twelve novels ending in post-Napoleonic War England and France - we can only hope that Sourcebooks Landmark will keep putting out gorgeous new paperbacks that long.

The BBC has adapted the first two Poldark novels into a new miniseries.  As usual for any historical production with the BBC (though the original production company was purchased by ITV, so we'll see for Series 2), the production values are stellar and the cast is excellent.  First and foremost, the countryside of Cornwall is breathtaking with sweeping shots of the cliffs and sea.  Aiden Turner (the dwarf half of the shoehorned-in dwarf-elf romance in the Hobbit movies) is wonderful as the driven, conflicted, rash - and occasionally delightfully shirtless - Ross.  Ruby Bentall, whom I loved as Mary Bennet in Lost in Austen, plays Verity to the hilt and I like her almost better here than in the book.  Kyle Soller, as the gutless wonder Francis, looks exactly right in a frock coat and breeches losing his family inheritance.  Old BBC regulars like Phil Davis and Richard Harrington (Bleak House) appear.  The only casting choice I thought questionable was Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza.  In the books, Demelza is a scrawny fourteen and introduced while dressed as a boy.  For the adaptation, Demelza's age has been bumped up to fit a more compressed timeline, so it does line more with Tomlinson's real age, but she doesn't quite find her way into Demelza's awkward, all-elbows roughness (having last seen her as a luminous Georgiana Darcy in Death Comes to Pemberley the role is a bit of a stretch, gorgeous red hair dye aside).  She gets it right about episode three but I think they should have double cast the role with a young teen actress for the first few scenes.

The two-hour season finale airs tonight, August 2, on your local PBS station - check your local schedule.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Grand Giveaway Contest

Win One of Three Fabulous Prizes

In celebration of the re-release of Ross Poldark and Demelza, Sourcebooks Landmark is offering three chances to win copies of the books or a grand prize, an Anglophile-themed gift package.

Two lucky winners will each receive one trade paperback copy of Ross Poldark and Demelza, and one grand prize winner will receive a prize package containing the following items:

(2 ) Old Britain Castles Pink Pottery Mugs by Johnson Brothers

(1) Twelve-inch Old Britain Castles Pink Pottery Plate by Johnson Brothers

(1) London Telephone Box Tin of Ahmad English Breakfast Tea

(1) Jar of Mrs. Bridges Marmalade

(1) Package of Duchy Originals Organic Oaten Biscuits

(2) Packets of Blue Boy Cornflower Seeds by Renee's Garden Heirloom 

(1) Trade Paperback Copy of Ross Poldark & Demelza, by Winston Graham

(That picture makes me wish I hadn't agreed to do the blog tour so I could enter the giveaway.)

To enter the giveaway contest simply leave a comment on any or all of the blog stops on the Ross Poldark Blog Tour starting July 06, 2015 through 11:59 pm PT, August 10, 2015. Winners will be drawn at random from all of the entrants and announced on the Buzz at Sourcebooks blog on August 13, 2015. Winners have until August 20, 2015 to claim their prize. The giveaway contest is open to US residents and the prizes will be shipped to US addresses. Good luck to all!

THE ROSS POLDARK BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE:

July 06 My Jane Austen Book Club (Preview)

July 07 Booktalk & More (Excerpt)

July 08 Reading, Writing, Working, Playing (Review)

July 09 vvb32 Reads (Preview)

July 10 The Paige Turner (Review)

July 10 My Kids Led Me Back To P & P (Excerpt)

July 11 Austenprose (Review)

July 12 Laura's Reviews (Preview)

July 13 Peeking Between the Pages (Review)

July 13 Reflections of a Book Addict (Preview)

July 14 Living Read Girl (Review)

July 15 Confessions of a Book Addict (Review)

July 16 vvb32 Reads (Review)

July 17 Paige Turner (Review)

July 18 Truth, Beauty, Freedom & Books (Preview)

July 19 Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide (Excerpt)

July 20 Laura's Reviews (Review)

July 20 The Calico Critic (Review)

July 21 So Little Time…So Much to Read (Excerpt)

July 21 Poof Books (Excerpt)

July 22 Babblings of a Bookworm (Review)

July 23 Austenprose (Review)

July 24 Peeking Between the Pages (Review)

July 25 My Love for Jane Austen (Excerpt)

July 25 Living Read Girl (Review)

July 26 Delighted Reader (Review)

July 27 My Jane Austen Book Club (Review)

July 27 Austenesque Reviews (Review)

July 27 Laura's Reviews (Review)

July 28 She Is Too Fond Of Books (Review)

July 29 English Historical Fiction Authors (Preview)

July 30 vvb32 Reads (Review)

July 30 Babblings of a Bookworm (Review)

July 31 CozyNookBks (Excerpt)

Aug 01 The Calico Critic (Review)

Aug 01 More Agreeably Engaged (Review)

Aug 02 Scuffed Slippers and Wormy Books (Review)

Aug 03 Romantic Historical Reviews (Review)

Aug 03 Psychotic State Book Reviews (Review)

The World of Downton Abbey: a mini-review

So, are you a Downton Abbey fan?  The best, soapy, frustating, World War I-era television miniseries around?

Then pick up The World of Downton Abbey.  It's so fun! A great explanation of the whys and wheretofores of the TV series. Julian Fellowes occasionally contributes insights from his own family which are endearing. The list of references in the back has added to my TBR!

Filled with photographs from the series (both in front of and behind the camera) and period photos.  An excellent companion for fans of the show.

The Mermaids Singing/The Wire in the Blood

One of my favorite television channels is BBC America.

I haven't watched it in years because I refuse to pay extortionate fees for hundreds of channels I don't watch just to get two that I do (the other is Ovation - does it exist anymore?).  Thank god for Netflix because I can now catch up on many of the television shows I got started on and never finished when I ditched my cable package. 

One of those shows was Wire in the Blood - a crime drama about an academic crimial psychologist/profiler named Tony Hill and Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan set in the fictional town of Bradfield (which I guess was supposed to be about three hours or so north of London near Yorkshire).  The series is based on a series of crime novels by Val McDermid but I never got around to picking any of them up.  A recent Netflix Instant-inspired Wire in the Blood binge combined with the ease of buying a book with my NOOK caused me to read the first two Tony Hill/Carol Jordan novels.  Incidentally, the first two books provide the basis for the first two episodes of the television show's first season:  The Mermaids Singing and The Wire in the Blood.

The Mermaids Singing introduces Tony and Carol amid the mess of a serial killer who is causing quite a scene (and turns out to nearly be more than Tony or Carol bargained for, in the end).  McDermid pulls no punches in showing many members of the police establishment to be not only sexist and bigoted but also too stubbornly working class to appreciate the mental work of profiling that compliments standard police work.  I have no idea how accurate the description is for the mid-nineties (I have a feeling it may not be far from the mark) but it does make for great tension that adds to the urgency of multiple murder inquiries.  McDermid structured the book so that the reader alternates between sections of the killer's diary (presumably recovered at the end of the case) and the crminal investigation.  Tony and Carol are great characters, each with their own problems, but also very much drawn to one another.  Carol also has a great internal voice, revealing how frustrating it must be to have to prove yourself at your job everyday just because you aren't one of the "lads".

The Wire in the Blood picks up approximately a year or so after The Mermaids Singing ended (it was pretty crazy).  Carol has received a promotion and Tony is setting up a national profiling task force.  So they haven't spoken much recently and aren't working together....but, of course, Carol needs Tony to consult on a serial arson investigation and Tony asks Carol to show his trainees how an experienced detective can work with a profiler.  One of the trainees comes up with a potential serial murder investigation as part of a classroom exercise; when Tony hesitates to actively pursue the idea, the trainee goes off on her own and in a crime novel you know where that leads....The narrative of the book then starts to split between Carol's arson investigation in her home territory (and troubles with her team of stubborn DIs) and Tony's team of fledgling profilers fighting an inattentive system and disbelief.  While the situation of two simultaneous investigations is very true-to-life I really felt that the arson plot detracted from the serial murder plot - considering both cases are completely separate it got very confusing after a while.  Still, it was a very compelling book and I enjoyed it very much.  Carol is still a favorite of mine but I liked Tony's growth of a character in The Wire in the Blood.  I finished this one during the Readathon.

There are currently six books in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series (The Last Temptation, The Torment of Others, Beneath the Bleeding, and Fever of the Bone make up the rest of the series) and I'd like to read them.  Tony and Carol remind me very much of the main characters in the USA television series Silk Stalkings - Chris and Rita - who have great chemistry and tension but avoid getting into the sack with one another (Chris and Rita only got together when the characters were leaving the show).

Teaser Tuesday - The Link

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page (BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The very first people who were more or less like ourselves - who would not have attracted too many stares on today's public transportation - date from about five hundred thousand years ago. The earlier types are commonly called archaic, and some of them are ascribed to their own species, such as Homo heidelbergensis.
- The Link by Colin Tudge with Josh Young, p 199

I would also like to put in a plug for the History Channel's programme about Ida, the 47-million-year-old fossil described in The Link. It was a very well-done show, entertaining, too, so if you can watch it on a re-airing or via Internet you should do so.

Resolution Wrap-Up, Week 3

I'd like a mulligan, please.

I got sick this week and that is frustrating because when I'm sick I tend to not do much of anything and eat whatever I want. It is doubly frustrating because that rotten asthma I picked up 6 years ago causes a common 3-day cold to last nearly two weeks; my lungs just incubate that crap. So here's to hoping that I'm not incubating anything for which I'll going to need antibiotics.

My copy of the new Pink Carnation book came in last night; The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig. Lauren seems to be retreating in her trashiness. The first novel in the series (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation) was pretty trashy and had some good, old-fashioned Regency spy plot devices. Well, this one had better relationship development as far as the romance between Charlotte and Robert but was pretty light on the espionage part. Still, it was cute and I read the whole thing in about 3 hours (Eloise's relationship with Colin is sort-of boring, even when compared to an untrashy Regency fling). I think my favorite in the series is #3, The Deception of the Emerald Ring.

I also watched the British version (original) of Eleventh Hour with Patrick Stewart and Ashley Jensen. The UK one is only 4 episodes, so it was more like a miniseries; the US version is my new favorite TV show because it has Rufus Sewell (have I mentioned this before?). I liked how Rachel (Ashley Jensen) has a much sharper toungue than her US counterpart, but I feel the US show moves along much faster.

Current book-in-progress: Silas Marner and who knows what else
Current knitted item: Who knew a scarf could take quite so long
Current movie obsession: Netflix instant; I have John Adams next up in the queue
Current iTunes loop: some podcasts downloaded from iTunesU