The Twisted Sword - book 11 of the Poldark series

"A man is better off to be a squire in Cornwall than to be a king in England" 

~Old Tholly, The Twisted Sword 

I recently finished reading book 11 in the Poldark saga, The Twisted Sword.  I enjoyed it very much, though it took me longer to read than the others!  A short forward indicates that this is the last novel in the series, (not knowing of course that there was one more story in Winston's head) proclaiming it a brilliant finale.  I have to agree it tied up loose ends quite nicely.

The story opens with Napoleon banished to Elba.  Ross is asked to go to France to see what the real state of affairs is over there - at first he says no, but then he changes his mind and decides to go.  The request involves a title which he doesn't want, but in the end he accepts.  He and Demelza make plans to go to Paris with the children, Isabella Rose and Henry, and the nanny, Mrs. Kemp, with Dwight and Caroline and their girls joining them there later.

Jeremy is happily married to Cuby and they are expecting a baby.  He is a soldier, stationed near Brussels.  Clowance is settling in as Mrs. Carrington, but news of a step-son rocks her world - Stephen, up to his usual crap, never told her he had a son.  He 'didn't want to upset her'.  I really don't like Stephen at all.  He's basically a flim-flam man and poor Clowance can't help loving him even though she suspects he's not really the man she thought she married.

Old Boney isn't about to sit around on Elba and proceeds to rebuild his army and heads back to Paris to take over again.  This causes serious problems for Ross and Demelza, who become separated when take-over begins.  Ross is arrested on trumped up charges by a man who pissed him off when he made overtures at Demelza.  Demelza manages to escape with the kids and the nanny and eventually gets back to London and has to wait and worry over Ross's release.  There's a lot more to this adventure, including some great conversations between Lord and Lady Poldark - you know the kind we like to read - the kind that end up in kisses and more - but I won't go into here.

You can well imagine that upstart George was ready to spit nails when he heard Ross is made a Lord.  He doesn't have too much time to think about it because.... surprise!  Harriet is pregnant!  George sees this as a chance to get a son to replace Valentine.  He also has a plan to bring down Stephen Carrington - he is sure took part in the robbery of the coach, but he does not have enough proof to get him arrested.  So he tries to ruin him instead and nearly succeeds.

With the war rekindled, Jeremy finds himself promoted to Captain.  He leads his men into a final horrendous battle where he is shot twice.  Ross, having escaped from captivity, heads out to find Jeremy - he arrives to find his son mortally wounded.  They are able to have a heart-breakingly few minutes to talk before he dies with his father at his side.  It struck me that once again, Ross is alone with his dying child and Demelza is not there to say goodbye! 

Stephen manages to overcome his money troubles when he captures a ship.  He makes a bundle of money on the venture and saves his bacon for the time being.  He buys himself a horse that he feels is fitting to his newly acquired station.  He meets up with Harriet Warleggan and wants to show her what a fine horse he has.  They chit-chat and he finds himself lusting after her a bit.  They take off to race and see whose horse is best - Stephen's horse cannot make one of the jumps and he is thrown off and breaks his back. He's just so full of himself, I can't feel any sympathy for him and not much for Clowance.  She knows he lies and keeps things from her.  Anyway, Stephen does not recover from this accident and leaves Clowance a widow.

So much happens in this volume, I know I'm forgetting a lot.  One important but small chapter has Valentine actually asking Ross if might be his father.  Ross tells him the truth, that it is possible, but no one can be sure.  He tells him he must never speak of this and if he finds out he has, he'll kill him.  Ross does not want Elizabeth's memory to be tarnished.

The loving cup - I really thought it would come back to haunt Jeremy, but in the end, it was thrown into a deep well by Demelza - Jeremy had sent her a letter requesting her to throw it in the sea if he did not return.  Ross was puzzled by her actions, but did not try to pry the truth out of her.

Isabella Rose, who is only thirteen, meets a young soldier and they fall in love - Mom and Dad are hoping it is just a passing fancy.  I guess I'll find out in the next and last book.

Last but not least, because we all love it when someone puts the screws to George - Harriet gives birth to TWIN GIRLS.  Serves the bastard right. Lol

The Hobbit - An Unexpected Disappointment ??

It took awhile, but I was finally able to get my copy of the Hobbit Trilogy on DVD.  I decided against blue-ray because I wanted to be able to watch it in my craft room as well as on the big screen TV.

When I first heard The Hobbit was going to be filmed, I was pretty excited about it.  The Lord of the Rings was everything I expected it to be, so I figured this will be great too.  I went to see it by myself as my usual movie buddy doesn't like fantasy/sci-fi all that much.  It started off good, so nice to be back in Middle Earth, but then along came this weird wizard named Radagast who had a sleigh pulled by giant rabbits and I was like WTF?  I can honestly say I had a hard time watching the rest of the movie because of it.  Now I know it's not uncommon to make some changes when going from the page to the screen, but this was a bit much and at the end, I left the theater a little bewildered at what I just saw.  I had intentions of seeing the other two films, but never did go to the theater for them.  All because adding Radagast to the story didn't sit well with me (and I'm usually not that picky about book to movie changes) !  Silly girl. LOL

Fast forward to 2015 and the PBS presentation of Poldark starring you-know-who... Aidan Turner.  I'm smitten.  Oh, more than that. LOL    It wasn't until my obsession that I realized the one dwarf that I thought was kind of cute was played by Aidan.  Well that did it.  Since I made it my mission to see every film/show he ever did, I borrowed it from the library to re-watch it and lo and behold, I enjoyed it so much more and not just because of adorable Kili (Aidan).  Now I was over the changes, I appreciated the whole production so much more.

 

The casting, sets, and costuming were amazing, as I had expected, yet was too piqued to notice!  So, though feeling a little silly for my Sheldon-like feelings towards The Unexpected Journey, I borrowed The Desolation of Smaug, and after that, The Battle of Five Armies.

I got totally invested in the Tauriel/Kili romance (no surprise there).  I was horrified by the ending and even had to drag out the book to confirm the demise of Kili and Fili.  It had been awhile since I read the book, so as often is the case, I had forgotten all but the most major parts of the story.

Recently someone asked me which movie did I like best and I said I liked them all, but I think Desolation of Smaug has a slight edge because of that sweet scene where Tauriel heals Kili from the goblin poison.  I have watched it several times and I sill wonder why she didn't say anything when he asked her 'do you think she could have loved me'.  Would it have been better if she had answered?  I don't know for sure. What do you think?

I really applaud the casting people for finding the spot-on perfect actors for each role, especially Bilbo.  Martin Freeman was born to play young Bilbo, just as Ian Holm was born to play old Bilbo.  I'm always ecstatic over perfect casting as many of you know already.  I felt that way about Lord of the Rings and now this trilogy too.

If those of you reading this haven't taken the time to watch the appendices with the magic behind the making of the movie, I urge you to do so, and then re-watch all three movies again.  It will be all that more impressive if you do!

All-in-all, The Hobbit Trilogy was a lovely venture back to Middle Earth, in spite of the changes.  If you felt a bit lukewarm about it when it was first released, as I did, give it another try and see if you find it was better than you first thought it was.

Click on link below to see my favorite scene

 Do you think she could have loved me? 

The Loving Cup - Poldark book 10

The Loving Cup picks up where The Miller's Dance leaves off.  

It's now 1813 and the Napoleonic Wars are waning.  Ross is doing quite well with Wheal Leisure, while Wheal Grace is running out of good ore.  As with The Miller's Dance, much of the story focuses on Jeremy and Clowance.  Isabelle Rose is a rambunctious tween-ager and baby Henry is doing very well.  Demelza is still recovering from his difficult birth, though this is only hinted at by WG.   As usual there are several delightful conversations between her and Ross.  There is still so much love between them, which makes me happy as I read.

Jeremy is at loose ends, still pining over Cuby, and feeling some regret over the robbery.  He keeps his share of the loot carefully hidden, while his partners in crime have been spending theirs.  He feels guilty and comes close to telling his Mother about it, but refrains.  After some soul-searching, he decides to join the Army and uses his ill-gotten gains to buy what he needs for his commission.  Ross and Demelza are not too happy about this, but they want him to do what he feels is right.  

In the meantime, his partners have been spending their shares.  Unbeknownst to them, some of the bills were of the ones that the bank had a record of and turned up in the account of George's wife.  He is steadfastly working to find out who robbed the coach and knowing George, he probably will.... but not in this volume!

Stephen uses his share of the coach money to get started in a legitimate shipping business.  On one of his excursions, he's becomes very ill and nearly dies.  When Clowance finds out about it, she goes immediately to nurse him back to health.  Stephen and Clowance reconcile, which I can't help but think is a big mistake, however, the heart wants what the heart wants and at least Clowance had time to think about him and what kind of man he is.  Ross and Demelza have reservations about him, but nothing concrete enough to try and stop their daughter from marrying him.

Once again, we get to enjoy someone putting the screws to George Warleggan.  This time it is Valentine that turns it.  George, in his usual manipulative way, arranges for Valentine to marry Jeremy's love, Cuby.  Valentine appears to go along with it, however when it's time to set the date, he informs his father that he is already married - to the recently widowed Selena Pope.  George blows a gasket and cuts him out of his life and fortune.  Selena has enough money to support Val, so he doesn't give a flying you-know-what. One thing for sure, you learn that Valentine has few redeeming qualities and will quite possibly turn out to be as bad as George, if not worse.  He reveals to his bride that he only married her for her property and that he intends to seek out other women when he feels like it and she just better figure out there's nothing she can do to stop him.  Wouldn't it be great if she DID figure out a way??   What a creep he is.

Jeremy learns that Cuby is no longer engaged to Valentine and wastes no time winning her over to his deep love and charming personality.  They run off to get married so her brother can't stop them.  Jeremy is at last happy, for the time being anyway.

Geoffrey Charles survives his time in the war and comes home with his beautiful Spanish bride, Amadora.  It is just a visit for now as they intend to return to Spain.  They do what they can in the time they have to spruce up Trenwith and have a party.  They want Drake and Morwenna to move to Trenwith to help keep it up while they are away.  Drake is running a business and is not sure this would be a good thing, though his friendship with Geoffrey is important to him too.  It remains to be seen what will happen with Trenwith. Geoffrey Charles has grown to be a good man, unlike his half-brother Valentine.

As the story ends, Demelza, who knows Jeremy has been fretting over something for months, finds evidence of his part in the coach robbery. She can't be certain he is involved, but she feels, much to her dismay, that he is. She ventures down to the hiding place and burns everything she finds except for a little silver loving cup.  She takes it home and cleans it up.  She claims she found it washed up on the beach.

One has to wonder how George will discover the loving cup and how he will use it to find the perpetrators of the crime!  With only two books left in the saga, I'm hoping, as I usually do, that he fails, but feel the cup still has a part to play in the story and will make Demelza wish she had tossed it in the sea. 

Don't tell me please!!  I'll be getting The Twisted Sword soon. 

Pondering Poldark - The Miller's Dance

 

I recently finished reading The Miller's Dance, which is book 9 in the Poldark saga.  This book, like The Stranger From the Sea, focuses primarily on Jeremy and Clowance however there are some delightful conversations between Ross and Demelza to keep the RoMelza fans happy.    Oh, tell me I didn't just do that melding names thing...... LOL.

Ross and Demelza are getting along well, still loving and making love like youngsters, though by now they are middle-aged.   Jeremy is still in love with Cuby (do you think that is pronounced 'cubby'? - it kinda drives me crazy that I don't know he correct pronunciation.) Cuby however rejects him because she needs to marry well to save her family home.  Clowance is still very much smitten with Stephen, which had me a little worried since I don't like him and don't trust him.  He's not really bad to Clowance, but he is definitely a self-serving kinda guy who doesn't deserve her love, IMHO.  He is quick to lie or withhold the truth when it serves his purposed.  She can clearly do better!

George marries Lady Harriet who turns out to be a bit of a thorn in his side (ha ha!) She's the polar opposite of Elizabeth, and is somewhat vulgar in spite of her hoity-toity background.  She brings dogs into his life and he really doesn't like them one bit.  However, young Ursula does.

We learn a little more about Valentine.  He's a party boy and seems to have little interest in learning the banking business.  He doesn't get along with his father all that well.  He strikes me as a little bit creepy but I'm interested to see how he evolves and hope we see that in the last three books.

Ross felt it was time to leave Parliament but Demelza is not sure he will be happy doing that.  He waffles back and forth about it until he decides yes he will go back - but not right away because ... Surprise!  Demelza is pregnant... things don't go so well for her this time, most likely due to her age, but she gives birth to a son, which delights her and Ross too.  He was even more delighted that both mother and son survived.  He was truly worried about it, especially after Elizabeth's unfortunate end.

Clowance finally gets a clue about Stephen and begins to realize that perhaps love is not enough - a maturing moment for her.  She breaks off her engagement to him.  Meanwhile, Ben Carter is hopelessly in love with her and I couldn't help but hope that Clowance sees a good man in him and turns to him for comfort.

The vile and horrible George Warleggan arranges a marriage between Cuby and Valentine.  Naturally Jeremy is heart broken.  The most dramatic part of the story comes when Jeremy, with the help of sly Stephen and their mutual friend, Paul plot to steal money from the Warleggon bank that they know will be carried by coach.  This was hard to read.  I felt it was SO out of character for Jeremy and while it seems they get away with it, I have a feeling it will come back to haunt him.  It is a serious crime and he knows it. 

I'm looking forward to reading The Loving Cup, which is waiting for me to pick up at the library.  I'm hoping I'll see some resolution to the rocky romances and dastardly adventures in The Miller's Dance.

Thoughts on The Stranger from the Sea.....

Beautiful Cliffs in Cornwall - http://www.natures-desktop.com/

I just finished reading book 8 in the Poldark series, The Stranger from the Sea by Winston Graham.  This was a fairly quick read and while I enjoyed it, it introduced the next generation and focused more on them than on Ross and Demelza.  However!  There are some lovely conversations with the now content couple that are heartening to read.

This story is fairly low-key without the gut-punching drama that was in the earlier books.  We meet Jeremy Poldark, who is now a young man, his younger sister Clowance, who is nearly 18, and the stranger from the sea, Stephan Carrington.  We also get some insight into Valentine's personality and I pretty much don't like him and I expect he'll be stirring up trouble in the future.

It opens with Ross away from home yet again where he runs into the infamous Colonel McNeil and Geoffrey Charles who is a soldier now and getting ready for battle.  Naturally Ross joins in because ...well he's ROSS.  LoL   He and Geoffrey Charles seem to have a lot in common and you can tell there is true affection there.

Meanwhile back in Cornwall, Jeremy and his friends are going fishing everyday.  Except he's not really fishing, but we learn that later in the story.  On one of their excursions, they find two bodies and bring them ashore - one of them is still alive!!  A handsome young man named Stephen Carrington.  Demelza and Clowance nurse him back to health.  Clowance is smitten. Stephen is smitten with her too, but he's a bit of a rake who lies to his rescuers about his background.  He and Jeremy hit it off  - he confesses that he was working aboard a privateer and he talks him into going off to get a small lugger with brandy aboard that his ship had captured and docked.  Things don't go exactly as they hoped. They are almost caught by Preventive men and as they escape, they separate and Jeremy ends up hiding in the gardens of an estate.  It is here that Jeremy meets Miss Cuby Trevanion and it changes his life forever.

Clowance goes off to London with Dwight and Caroline Enys to try and sort out her feelings towards Stephen and a local guy, Ben Carter.  She meets Lord Edward Fitzmaurice at a social event and he falls for her.  Now she has a 3 way problem. lol  Eventually, Demelza and Clowance go to meet Edward's family, which helps Clowance, at least a little, with what she should do.

George Warleggan has a part in this volume too.  He has never really gotten over losing Elizabeth, but he has decided it's time to find a new wife.  He has his eyes on a widow of good breeding and money and feels he must impress her.  He invests heavily on a speculation and loses his shirt instead.  So much so, he decides to sell all his shares in Wheal Leisure to John Treneglos, who keeps it secret that Ross will be a shareholder again.  Putting the screws to George is always a wonderful thing. lol

This all came about because Jeremy is interested in Wheal Leisure and goes in and investigates with Ben Carter.  He wants to build a steam engine to work the mine. He is obsessed with steam power and determined to learn everything about it.  Fortunately, Ben feels there is a chance that there is enough copper to open it again, which convinces Jeremy to ask his Dad to try and get it back.  He gives good argument and has an answer for all of Ross' questions.  Ross is impressed with his son, which is gratifying as his relationship with him has not been as good as it should have been.

Trenwith is falling into disrepair with no one living there.  You get the feeling that somewhere down the road, something will save it, but maybe that's just me and my wishful thinking.  Also, I don't trust this Stephen Carrington person.  I will have to get a copy of The Miller's Dance to find out if my gut instinct is right this time.  Don't tell me, please!  I want to read it. :-) 

Liking Lucifer...the TV show... so far!

Tom Ellis as Lucifer

New show from Fox - Lucifer.  I knew I wanted to watch it because I love Tom Ellis after watching him play Gary on Miranda. 

So far I'm enjoying the show.  Lauren German who plays Chloe is doing a fine job playing the cop who resists Lucifer's charms.  Scarlett Estevez plays daughter Trixie who is so cute!  I love the interactions between her and Lucifer. 

I also really like the dynamic between Lucifer and the shrink, Linda, played by Rachel Harris. It's great to see D.B. Woodside, who was a regular on Buffy the Vampire Slayer a few years back - he is playing a dark angel. 

It remains to be seen if this show will hold my interest.  I'm going to give it a chance though.

Shortest post ever... lol  well for me anyway.

Poldark 1975

I've been curious about the 1975 version of Poldark and went looking for it via my local library.  I have a great library - it is networked with dozens of libraries in my area and I can borrow a book or dvd or download a book or magazine or audio book from any of them.

I just finished watching series one of Poldark, 1975 version, starring Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees. I was hoping I would really like it, but to be honest, the changes the writers made were SO distracting, I had a hard time making myself watch all 12 episodes.  I know that any book that makes it to film has changes, some worse than others, but this had me talking loudly to the TV.  If you see a lot of theater and movies you will notice a distinct difference in them - plays rely on words to convey the story, while movies are far more visual.  This version is more like a play; the current version is a visual feast for the eyes along with the story.

I'm sure there are many people who would disagree with me, but I found Robin's Ross to be too cold in most of his scenes.  There were only a few scenes with Demelza that I felt I could see love in his eyes.  In addition to that, his barking orders and general crankiness made it hard for me to like him and be sympathetic to him.  (Oddly enough, I think that makes him perfect for Rev. Halse, which I think he has played excellently.)  His interactions with Elizabeth were not at all convincing that she was the love of his young life.  His scene when and after Julia dies is so void of emotion.  In the current version there is much more affection shown by Aidan's Ross towards not only Demelza, but Elizabeth, Verity, and even Francis before he betrays Ross.  You see everything he is feeling so keenly, you don't have to wonder what's going on inside him.  Robin failed to do that in my eyes.

Tiny Angharad (can someone tell me how to pronounce that?) played a feistier Demelza than Eleanor does in the current version.  Although sometimes she came across as shrewish to me, she was able to show her love for Ross with a pretty smile and a twinkle in her eye.  Eleanor's Demelza expresses her feelings more in her face and eyes.

Jill Townsend played Elizabeth.  In this version, she was far less friendly to Demelza which didn't affect me one way or the other.  There were a lot of scenes where she looked like she had a stick up her butt, but others where she was more animated.  The one scene from Warleggan which hasn't been done yet on the new version was so low-key, it was like they were reading the words off the script-worse scene in the 12 episodes!  I don't want to say more because I'm trying to make this a no spoiler post. :-)  On the plus side, she had blonde hair as she does in the books. 

The Warleggans consisted of Nicolas and George.  No Uncle Cary.  I don't have anything to say about that.  One thing I've been wondering, in this version, Verity nurses Geoffrey Charles through the morbid throat illness, not Demelza - did that happen in the book ?  I don't think so, but my memory sucks, especially when I'm reading something too fast.  Mea culpa....

A few other irksome things were Verity was far too pretty, Blamey looked too old, as did McNeil.  Ok, so THAT's really nit-picky, I know. lol   I tried putting myself mentally back in the mid-70's to see if I could connect better with this production, but to no avail.

So in my mind, what makes the current version superior to this one?  Besides the cast, which I believe is perfect, it is the stirring, emotional music, the breath-taking outdoor scenes of beautiful Cornwall and the screenplay by Debbie Horsfield, which has inevitable changes from the book, but keeps the spirit of it so much better.  I think Winston would heartily approve of it.

Perhaps you don't agree!  That's ok - we can respectfully, if not cheerfully, agree to disagree.

Pondering Poldark - The Angry Tide

Well, I finished reading The Angry Tide and despite the shocking ending, enjoyed it quite a bit. So in keeping with tradition .... SPOILER ALERT!  SPOILER ALERT!  SPOILER ALERT!

The Angry Tide brings some resolutions to the problems featured in The Four Swans and presents some new ones to ponder.  So here's the short of it:

Ross and Demelza are trying to overcome the strain in their relationship in the aftermath of her infidelity.  Ross is elected to Parliament and spends quite a bit of time away from home.  Jeremy and Clowance are healthy and still bring delight into their parents lives.

Dwight and Caroline have a baby girl, who sadly does not survive beyond a few months due to a heart problem.  Losing little Sarah sends Caroline off to London to get away from the heartbreak.  She tells Dwight she needs to get away and does not want him to come with her. 

The odious Reverend Ossie finds a way to foil Morwenna's threat that has been keeping her from having sex with him.  He forces her back to his bed and at the same time starts slipping around with her sister again.  The horny bastard.  Anyway, Rowella's husband sees Ossie fondling Rowella's feet as she lies naked on the bed and ends up following him as he leaves and kills him! Luckily, it looks like an accident, so he gets away with it.  Drake was about to marry a sweet girl named Rosina when he finds out Morwenna is a widow.  Rosina releases him from his marriage promise and he goes to see his true love but she is crazed from having to be a proper wife to Ossie and is pregnant.  She sends Drake packing, which breaks his heart all over again.

Caroline wants Ross to bring Demelza to London, which he does.  They have a wonderful time, growing closer and beginning to feel like that time before they failed to keep their marriage vows, he with Elizabeth and she with Hugh.  There is a delightful passage that features antics in the bedroom at the Inn that I know all us Maidens will want to see!!

It is in London that we meet the detestable and unctuous Monk Adderley who makes a bet with George that he can get into Demelza's knickers and proceeds to pursue her.  She does not like him but doesn't tell him to leave her be for various reasons.  Ross is jealous and it is apparent he has not really gotten back to trusting Demelza.  Monk provokes Ross by taking his seat while at a debate in Parliament.  Ross embarrasses him, so he sends a note challenging him to a duel.  Ross wants to kill him just for the way he looks at Demelza and accepts - all in secret since it's against the law.  They both get hit, Ross survives his wound, Monk does not.  Caroline and Dwight get back together.

Meanwhile Morwenna loses the baby, through no fault of her own, and shows up at Drake's shop.  They reconcile with the understanding that she can't stand to be touched.  Drake agrees to this and they get married. 

Elizabeth is pregnant - this time for sure it is George's baby.  They are getting along well, George buys a seat in Parliament and plans to get himself knighted.  Elizabeth approves of this and sees herself as Lady Warleggan.   Then the proverbial sh*t hits the fan when Geoffrey Charles observes quite loudly and with great merriment that Valentine looks just like his Uncle Ross !  Oh-oh.  Elizabeth is horrified.  George is outraged.  Elizabeth decides to visit a Dr. who can help her with the baby that's on the way - he gives her a potion that will make the baby be born early, but not without some risks.  She thinks if the baby comes early as Valentine did, George will believe her claim that he IS the father of their son.  She has a heart-to-heart conversation with George about how he let Aunt Agatha's vengeful last words ruin his marriage and his life.  He knows this is true and actually has regrets.  Baby girl Ursula comes early as planned, however there are complications and Elizabeth dies a horrible painful death.  George is devastated but not nearly as much as Ross is.  I really hope the show gets as far as this, because I want to see Aidan do this scene.  I can see it in my head already.

I have the DVD of the 1975 version of Poldark and have only 3 more episodes to go for season one.  I have some thoughts about it and will post them soon.