"The Four Swans" focuses on two main things: politics and romantic relationships, and Winston Graham being such a tremendous writer, he successfully describes both—female and male world— without a reader losing interest for either. In this sixth book in a series, Ross and George still have their ongoing rivalry, especially after George's suspicions that Valentine is not his son but rather a product of Ross's and Elizabeth's one night stand before Elizabeth married George, and Ross being chosen as a member of the parliament instead of George. He finds the way for revenge when he manages to marry Elizabeth's cousin and a governess of her son Morwenna to the abusive and atrocious old vicar, Osbourn Whitworth in order to end romance between her and Demelza's younger brother Drake as well as ensure entrance into ancient and popular Cornwall family Godolphin. Morwenna, being a victim of that period, didn't have anywhere else to go but to accept marriage in which she gets sexually abused and, after the birth of their son, mentally unstable.

On another side, we have Demelza's struggle with Hugh's attention for her where she's trying to be a good friend but ends up completely heart-broken over his appearance in the book.

In "The Four Swans" Winston Graham's language is once again impressive and envious. His love for nature and home is yet again present in beautiful descriptions of Cornwall, the landscapes, green meadows, birds, and flowers.

I said it before and I'll say it again: "Poldark" saga is not your ordinary historical romance with lots of love and sex. "Poldark" is a political saga before everything else, therefore, it is quite appropriate read for men too. I think because of the highly popular TV shows such as "Outlander" where books are described as sci-fi/drama/fantasy/romance but mostly focus on romantic and sexual relationship between two main characters (Jamie and Claire), it is easy to put "Poldark" in the same box because both of them are focused on the same time period (even years). But, to me, "Poldark" is more subtle and realistic when it comes to life back then. I was thinking perhaps the main reason for the huge difference is in writers themselves- "Outlander" being written by a woman and "Poldark" being written by a man. Now, I'm not dismissing any historical researches nor do I suggest one book series is lacking it but I tend to believe that men were always interested more in politics than in romantic relationships and for that reason we often run into fan conflict when they're asked which series is better. Since both books have large fandom of females, "Outlander" has larger number of females in fandom, they are not very interested to read about boring political conflicts in the "Poldark" saga. So, this is why I think "Poldark" would definitely find the way to any man's heart who likes to read unlike "Outlander" perhaps.

The majority of fandom agreed they don't like a new character—Hugh Armitage— because he was reckless and childish when he admitted Demelza he's utterly and hopelessly in love with her, knowing she's married to one of his good friends. As we all know, cheating in marriage is often criticized harshly and many readers didn't (want to) see it as something crucial for the storyline, especially because they're used to Ross's and Demelza's marriage being strong and somewhat lovely. Hugh managed to seduce her with his appearance and poetical expressions and the two engaged in a sexual relationship which, like any other sexual moments in the saga, wasn't graphic nor exposed. I like Hugh's character though because he is tragically beautiful. In the number of realistic characters presented so far, he is one of those you'd find in, say, Shakespeare's plays. I really appreciate that Winston Graham created someone as dreamy and tragic as Hugh in order to present the complexity of life. Before Hugh, Demelza was a child who grew up in Ross's home and when she came to an age he married her. She never knew anything before that, she didn't have those sweetly childish first love, someone you never forget despite the others who come after. For Ross, this role is assigned to Elizabeth and I'm really glad Demelza reserved a place in her heart for Hugh as well. She definitely learns the pain and love of the first love at the end of the book. Despite her coming up as a cheater, I'm happy that her character evolved and recognized different kinds of loves.

I felt the urge to write poetry . Hugh Armitage was infectious with his seducing ways.

In an extremely realistic setting and views of marriage, there comes a completely unrealistic character that can only exist in books. Hugh Armitage was a pleasant breeze on your skin, someone you can only dream about, a poet with huge heart for a chosen one. He came suddenly, sway you off of your feet, showed you that real poetic love that otherwise doesn't exist in real life, and he took away a piece of you when he died. It felt like some people come to our life with a purpose and after the purpose is fulfilled they're gone. Now this sounds realistic actually .

When he was 17 years old, Winston moved to Perranporth, Cornwall. He had wanted to be a writer from an early age, and following the death of his father, who had previously been incapacitated by a stroke, he was supported by his mother while he wrote novels at home in longhand and attempted to get them published.

You'll find that this sixth book in a series has a focus on romantic relationships between the main and also supporting characters. Four main relationships: Ross and Demelza, Dwight and Caroline, George and Elizabeth, Drake and Morwenna and two additional ones (Morwenna and her husband Osborne, and Demelza and her friend/lover Hugh) all of them so different with struggles and endurance, all of them interesting and moving. It was great to read how their relationships evolve and I'm also quite satisfied with how realistically they're written and presented to a reader.

Usually, novels are revolving around two main characters and readers are mainly interested in them only. In "Poldark" saga Winston Graham gets readers engaged in the stories of side characters as well, making them appear as important as the main ones. He is definitely a master of character development and one can only learn from him.

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Created Oct 16, 2019 at 8:51am • Submit your own review...