Winston Graham and Garrick, still a puppy, at Perranporth Beach
A Syllabus
For a Study Group at the Oscher LifeLong Learning Institute at American University
Day: Ten Monday afternoons, 1 to 2:50 pm, Temple Baptist Church
Dates: Classes start Mar 2nd; last day May 4th.
Dr Ellen Moody
Description of Course
In this course we’ll read Winston Graham’s first three Poldark novels: Ross Poldark, Demelza, Jeremy Poldark. These plus a fourth, Warleggan, were the novels adapted for the first season of televised Poldark (1974-75), and the matter for the coming Poldark mini-series (to be televised in the UK starting March 2015 and on American PBS channels starting in June 2015). They represent the first phase of a 12 novel roman fleuve, a regional romance continuing story, deeply researched and imaginatively realized historical novels moving from the time of the American and then French revolution and reform and politically radical movements in England to just after the end of the Napoleonic era, including the realities of county politics, mining, banking, smuggling (known locally as free trade) and farming in Cornwall. Written 1945-52, the first four mirror issues of the post World-War II world, are proto-feminist, with a deeply appealing group of characters from all classes in a realistic and romantic suspenseful stories. We will read four short essays on historical culture, Cornwall, and sex and politics in the novels, and see two episodes of the 1975-77 mini-series. It is suggested that students read one of Graham’s mysteries before the class begins. I choose The Forgotten Story [alternative title: The Wreck of the Grey Cat] since it is also set in Cornwall (1898), was written around the time of Ross Poldark, and filmed as a BBC mini-series (1983). Graham won many awards (he’s OBE) and praise from the literary establishment for his mysteries, several of which were filmed by Hitchcock (e.g., Marnie); many of his novels were US Book-of-the-Month Club selections.
Required Texts. Students are asked to bring a copy of the novel and/or essays we are discussing for the week to class. An online copy, a pdf and 2 Xeroxes of the (short) essays are provided; any edition of the books will do.
Graham, Winston. Ross Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-87. Illinois: Sourcebook, 2009.
—————. Demelza: A Novel of Cornwall, 1788-90. Illinois: Sourcebook, 2010.
—————. Jeremy Poldark: A Novel of Cornwall, 1790-91. London Panmacmillan, 2008
—————. Warleggan: A Novel of Cornwall, 1792-93. London: Panmacmillan, 2008.
Moody, Nickianne. “Poldark Country and National Culture,” from Cornwall: The Cultural construction of a Place (a xerox will be provided);
Moody, Ellen. “‘I have the right to choose my own life:’ Liberty in the Poldark Novels,” on-line my website.
Taddeo, Julie. “Rape in the Poldark Narrative,” from Upstairs and Downstairs (a xerox will be provided).
Moseley, Rachel. “‘It’s a Wild Country. Wild … Passionate … Strange’: Poldark and the Place-Image of Cornwall,” From Visual Culture in Britain (a xerox will be provided).
Click on map to make larger: the imagined map of Poldark country is placed on top of the real Cornwall
Format: Study group meetings will be a mix of informal lecture and group discussion.
March 2nd: Introduction: Winston Graham, life, career, as a mystery writer, e.g., The Forgotten Story
March 9th: Historical Novels; Ross Poldark: pp 1-115 or Prologue, and Book 1, Chs 1-10
March 16th: Ross Poldark, pp. 116-225 or Book 1, Chs 11-18, and Book 2, Chs 1-7
March 23rd: Ross Poldark, pp 226-314, Book 2, Chs 8, Book 3, Chs 1-11
March 30th: Demelza, Book 1, Chs 1-15; Nickianne Moody’s essay
April 6th: Demelza, Book 2, Chs 1-14; Ellen Moody’s essay
April 13th: Demelza, Book 3, Chs 1-11; an episode from the mini-series.
April 20th: Demelza, Book 4, Chs 1-11; Rachel Moseley’s essay
April 27th: Jeremy Poldark; Book 1, Chs 1-14: Julie Taddeo’s essay
May 4th: Jeremy Poldark; Book 2, Chs 1-14; began Warleggan.
May 11th: Warleggan as a final book of a 4 book cycle
Suggested reading and Viewing
Collins, Wilkie. Rambles beyond the Railways; Notes on Cornwall taken a-Foot. Dodo Press. n.d.
Graham, Winston. The Forgotten Story. Oxford: Bodley Head, 1964.
—————. Poldark’s Cornwall. Oxford: Bodley Head, 1983.
—————. Memoirs of a Private Man. London: Panmacmillan, 2003
Hay Douglas, Peter Linebaugh, E. P. Thompson, et alia. Albion’s Fatal Tree: Crime and Society in 18th century England. NY: Pantheon, 1975.
Poldark. Two 29 part mini-series, 1975-76, 1977-78. Various directors and writers, produced by Morris Barry and others. Featuring Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees, Jill Townsend, Ralph Bates, Paul Curran, Norma Steader, Richard Morahan
Porter, Roy and Dorothy. Patient’s Progress: Doctors and Doctoring in 18th century England. Stanford: StanfordUPress, 1989.
Waugh, Mary. Smuggling in Devon and Cornwall, 1700-1850 Newbery, Berkshire: Countryside Book, 1991.
Westland, Elia, ed. Cornwall: The cultural Construction of Place. Penzance: Patten Press, 1997.
Further on-line materials:
Authorized updated website on Graham, his life, novels, films.
The Poldark novels, and other fiction, non-fiction and films.
Winston Graham: lists of books, essays and other websites.
Godolphin House, Cornwall (used as Trenwith, the Poldark family home in 1975-76 BBC Poldark mini-series)
Ellen
Ellen And Jim Have A Blog, Two 
“Your Poldark picture looks like Godolphin House. The book group I was a member of when I lived in Penzance is this year for the second year running holding a reading weekend there, and I’m invited. Last year was excellent and I’m currently reading the books for this year’s, the last weekend of this month into March. The house is 15th c and has been continuously lived in ever since, which is why the National Trust, which owns it now, offers it for rent one week out of four. It sleeps twelve, and is very comfortable. I’m a sucker for old houses, and this one is remarkable. I’ve no idea whether Godolphin is of interest to you — I don’t know the Poldark books or the TV series — but I hope it is! xx
Susan H”
It is Godolphin House; I neglected to label it on facebook so. Godolphin House was used for the outside of Trenwith in the first mini-series (1975-76); the rooms inside look like studio rooms and we never see the actors going in and out of the house’s doors so I’ve no idea how the house looks inside. Your club sounds like it is doing what Jim and I used to through Landmark Trust, which picked up old places (very old sometimes), no longer in any use or very different from the one intended; they turn them back to the original use with the important difference they are also made inhabitable for people on holiday. I love old houses too; to stay in such a place made us feel special, part of history, and was part of what we enjoyed. Landmark would provide appropriate small libraries too. The kitchen was made modern — you could cook, a fridge, dishwasher, clothes washer too. You should put photographs on your blog or here on face-book so we all might see the inside of a 15th century house brought back. The novels are worthwhile, the first (Ross Poldark) has sold some tremendous number since it was first published and never been out of print since.
I’d love to go to Cornwall, have never been. If I had the nerve someday I might take a “Road Scholar” journey — this is one of those group package deals where you get yourself to a place and after that the organization does everything (booking, trips, speakers, meals).
Last year was the first time I had returned since we left our place at Alsia — Godolphin was about fifteen miles away or so — West Cornwall is very beautiful … Susan
A Scots reporter assigned to write about the new Poldark has joined the Poldark Appreciation facebook page:
http://www.scottishreview.net/PeterRoss2a.html
He told me perhaps Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies will air on PBS this coming April. At first I despaired this would be another excellent costume drama our local PBS will not pay for (we get loads of these cheap thriller-mysteries) but now I know they are due to air in March. Mantel’s two books were nominated and won Bookers and were read avidly by readers in the US.
2/12/15: Watching the older series again: it’s not just the exquisitely right actors for many of the parts, but the whole ambience of the films, the real places and real actions filmed, the sense of raw human realities and physical landscape; the use of color.
I really want to find time to watch my copies again.
Clare
Late at night the music is so alluring and the real use of rough and true landscape with all its walls, houses, rocks, mines, fishing places … perfect.
Yes, many of the places have changed little since.
Indeed — if it’s stayed the same, that suggests economic decline and dependence on tourism. Someone told me some of the villages are art-centers nowadays.
In the last couple of years there have been bad mud and other slides with climate change.
A remarkable phenomena I’ve discovered on these Poldark face-pages: a number of people (how many I don’t know) talk of having moved to Cornwall after reading these novels or watching the films. Surely it just clinched some desire that was there beforehand. Angharad Rees was Cornish and she went back there to live when the film career ended. She died a couple of years ago in her early 60s — cancer.
The Prince of Pleasure and His Regency by J.B. Priestley (1969) is a broad view of the times. It provides background for many novels set at the turn of the 19th century. A very readable history, well illustrated and clear on the issues of the times.
This book should be helpful to any reader or student of the fiction set in this time period. I bought it while reading Georgette Heyer and re-reading Jane Austen.
Winston Graham makes mistakes in social history such as wedding white for the bride at this period. Oh well, it’s not worth fussing about considering his splendid character development and exciting stories.
I’m not sure who M.A. is. As far as I can tell and I’m an 18th century scholar, Graham is mostly very accurate. If I thought they were simply good characters and exciting stories, I would not teach them. Priestley is no authority on historical fiction or literary criticism; it’s a popular book. Georgette Heyer is pastiche.
I have a signed Poldark novel (Winston Graham: The Twisted Sword 22nd august 1990 hardback). If anybody is interested. I have no idea of its value.
I know someone doing serious research on Graham; I’ll ask him.
Hi there Ellen and Jim, I’ve just found your site and followed. It’s wonderful. I’m a huge admirer of the Poldark novels which I first starting reading when I was about 12 and it’s good to see them getting the serious discussion they merit. I have a question which I wonder if you can help with. Is there any discussion you know of about any connections between the late 18th and early 19th century context of the novels and the context in which the early novels were written in the aftermath of WW2. I know that Graham talks of a fighter pilot whom he met during WW2 who contributed to the character of Ross which is interesting but I was thinking more generally. I’m writing a talk about the historical novel for an event at Gladstone’s Library https://www.gladstoneslibrary.org/events/calendar/2018/april
and I’m going to be talking about the Poldark series as one example. If you have any thoughts I’d be grateful and they will of course be credited. I hope that it will be ok if I include your site as one of the links for the talk which will also be available as a podcast (should you be interested!). Best wishes from a semi-Springlike London. Rachel Malik
Dear Rachel, I am in Milan, and away from my books and ready acccess to the Internet so must be short. The evidence for the connection to WW2 is in Graham’s Memoir, and the other novels he wrote in 1945-53, the span of the first four. Feel free to quote me as long as you credit carefully. I hope you saw that beyond the blogs and my website I have two academic papers delivered at 18th c conferences: Liberty on the Novels and Poldark Rebooted are their titles. More when I return home. I hope to keep in touch as I am working on a book on this material and Cornwall.