Poldark novels

I hope to blog about the Poldark novels, by Winston Graham. They cover Cornish history from the late 18th century to the end of George III's reign in 1820. Ross Poldark is a small squire whose father is a younger son. His father owns a small estate with a couple of mines on it, and he lost his wife as a young woman. He took to leading a wild drunken life, and Ross, his only surviving son ended up by joining the army. He has some of his fathers wild streak but he has a social conscience. He went to school with his cousin Francis a more gentle boy who is the heir to the family's bigger estate, Trenwith. The Poldarks dont get on with the Warleggans, who live nearby, and who are nouveau riche, having made a fortune in banking and business. George Warleggan feels uneasy with the Cornish gentry, as he is conscious of his lower origins. He is not popular in county society because he is a ruthless businessman. Ross returns to Nampara from the American wars, and learns that his father has died and his house is being run by the Paynters,a drunken pair of servants who have neglected it. He also learns that his fiancee, Elizabeth, a beautiful girl from a very genteel family, thought that he was dead and has now become engaged to his cousin Francis. Francis has some of the family failings, he is careless with money and he drinks, but he's not as wild as Ross was, and Elizabeth finds him more congenial. She is upset to find that Ross is back and he is jealous and angry, but she tells him she is going to marry his cousin. Ross thinks of throwing out Jud and Prudie, the servants but keeps them, and begins to try to bring his estate into order, but he also becomes embroiled in arguments with the Warleggans, who are harsh employers and who are determined to become the richest family in the area. He meets a new friend, Dwight Enys, a young newly trained doctor who wants to work for the poor, and he employs him to look after the miners. He then rescues a girl whon he meets at a local fair, she is running away from her drunken violent father, and has been looking after her younger brothers from childhood. He takes her in as a servant and begins to care for her.