The Stranger from the Sea (8) (Poldark)

I'm sorry that the story didn't come to any resolutions. I very much enjoyed the excellent writing style, the various accents, and the old fashioned sense of the story. The culture and history were fascinating. The characters are wonderfully represented, and I look forward to encountering them again. This was a lovely and enticing read.

I am love love loving this series! Historical fiction at its finest. Wonderful writing, engaging characters, compelling story. I give the series a solid A.

Love this book so much. The entire series is wonderful!

I listen to audiobooks at night, and I wanted to know what happened after the Poldark TV series ended. I believe this is the one that contains part of the very last season— either that, or it is the continuation of the series. It is set 20 years after the end of the television show, and so far I’m a fan. I like the narration very much, and of course I’m hooked on the story.

When the Poldark TV series ended with season 5, with Ross heading off on a mission to Portugal, telling Demelza he will come back, no matter what, I thought perhaps they'd left a small opening for it to pick up sometime later with a season 6. But it seems that's not to be. I'd not read the Winston Graham books they based the TV series on, so I was recently surprised to find the series was based on the first seven Poldark novels and that there are five remaining novels that pick up the story after TV's season 5. This book: 'Poldark - The Stranger From The Sea', is where the Poldark saga continues and it is fabulous! If, like me, you loved the TV series and you have a hankering for more Poldark then may I recommend this volume to you (and the four more volumes that follow it) because Winston Graham's writing style is a joy to read, and with the memory of how the characters and the Cornish land were portrayed in the TV series, the written words seem to magically produce a movie in my mind as I read them. So if anyone wants MORE POLDARK(!) here it is. Come and get it in book form... it's waiting for you!

I enjoyed this novel. There were no 'pat' situations, the relationships were realistic and trite resolutions were avoided. There is a lot of background - the historical situation, the politics in Cornwall, England and the Continent, the mining scene, the country life, the county life and the London life, all made the novel rich..

"Save a stranger from the sea and he will turn your enemee." The Stranger from the Sea (book 8 of the Poldark saga) begins ten years after book 7, The Angry Tide, ended. Life has continued for our familiar inhabitants of Cornwall. Children have grown and more children have been born and the author cleverly catches us up on all the occurrences by a chance reunion and conversation in Portugal on the eve of a battle between French and British forces. My knowledge of historic events during this time period is embarrassingly lacking, but I remember references to Napoleon and the "Battle of Waterloo." My memory of this event and some of the historic figures was enough that I felt a little prescient as the characters of the book attempted to navigate the politics and business climate of the time. History tells us that the war will go on for a while longer and have some impact on both the Poldarks, their friends, and the Warleggans. I would have been content to read the entire book series without inner knowledge of George Warleggan's love life, but the author takes us through that journey nonetheless. By being inside George's head, we truly come to appreciate how little he understands people and their motivations. Fortunately, his story is a small deviance from the more enjoyable story of Ross, Demelza, and their growing children. I think this book was meant to introduce us to the new personalities of this next generation, the coming age of invention, and the curse of war. Despite the ominous passage quoted above, the reader is spared major drama. Despite containing less excitement in this book than some of the previous, it held my attention through some long reading sessions!

Most of the interest is in the first half. No real resolution, though one hopes for some. Maybe in the next book, Book 9. Hopefully more about George, the most interesting character in the series (perhaps). And more about Stephen, the Trevanions, and Jeremy.