Finished: Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

I actually finished Ross Poldark a few weeks ago, but with everything suddenly going on in life, I haven't gotten around to doing a write-up about it until now. The book and series take place in late 18th century Cornwall, just after the War of Independence in America has ended. Poldark is a former officer in the British Army who returns to Cornwall and discovers his father is dead and his girlfriend is engaged to his cousin due to rumors of his demise in the Colonies. From there, the book follows Ross as he attempts to move on with this life and build his fortune by reopening derelict mines. The book also shifts to cover the happenings of some of the supporting characters, but typically in a way that ties to Ross.

He meets Demelza Carne, a young girl who he rescues from a fight and hires on as a kitchenmaid. During the course of the story, she plays an important role in helping him move on from Elizabeth, the woman he thought he loved.

I'm going to keep it brief and say that I enjoyed Ross Poldark a lot. A lot more than I expected, really. To the best of my knowledge, this was the first work of historical fiction I've ever read from start to finish and I can't think of a better entry point into the genre (at least for me) than this book. The characters were generally good but some of the supporting cast felt a teensy bit flat. Seeing as how the focus was on the eponymous Ross Poldark and a select few, that's understandable. In any case, it didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the novel, so I wouldn't even begin to hold that against it.

My favorite characters had to be Demelza Carne, Verity Poldark, and Jud Paynter.

I'm not sure if I'll read any of the other books in the series because I have an ever-increasing TBR pile and I can only read whatever I happen to get hooked on. I certainly wouldn't mind revisiting Cornwall and seeing how Ross and the gang are doing.