Ross Poldark

A Novel of Cornwall, 1783-1787

By: Winston Graham

Narrated by: Oliver Hembrough

Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Ross Poldark is a heartwarming, gripping, and utterly entertaining saga that brings to life an unforgettable cast of characters and one of the greatest love stories of our age.

Ross Poldark returns to Cornwall from war, looking forward to a joyful homecoming with his family and his beloved Elizabeth. But instead, he discovers that his father has died, his home is overrun by livestock and drunken servants, and Elizabeth, having believed Ross dead, is now engaged to his cousin. Ross must start over, building a completely new path for his life, one that takes him in exciting and unexpected directions....

Thus begins an intricately plotted story spanning loves, lives, and generations. The Poldark series is the masterwork of Winston Graham, who evoked the period and people like only he could, and created a world of rich and poor, loss and love, that listeners will not soon forget.

©2009 Winston Graham (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Narrator Oliver Hembrough's plethora of accents and voices captures the diverse characters and vivid atmosphere of this rich family saga.... Variations in Hembrough’s cadence and pitch enhance the drama of the story, creating an intriguing listen for lovers of historical fiction and romance." (AudioFile)

Occasionally Melodramatic, but Sweet

Has a real sense of place and time. Social and living conditions we think of as horrific are taken as commonplace (which they were at the time). And if situations stray into melodrama once or twice, the characters never feel unreal. They're earthy and human and flawed, but deeply likeable.

Solid period piece.

Fabulous, well written, excellent performance

If you like historical novels you will love this masterpiece. The story moves along with a wonderful narrator. If your a fan of the Masterpiece Theater production you will enjoy filling in the plot and characters by reading the novels.

A beautiful literary piece of art

The author’s skill at painting pictures with words is exceptional. The story line is classic, traditional, strong and refreshingly clean. The narrator is superbly gifted.

Loved it!

I got interested in this story by watching Poldark on PBS. This book gives so much more. So happy I decided to start the series.

Love it!

After falling in love with the first three seasons of the Poldark TV series, I decided to listen to the book series. I can't wait to start the second book!

Great Story

I absolutely loved the Poldark series that came out last year, so I was eager to read the book. This story is so fantastic and engulfing. My only complaint is that the narration is a bit odd. It sounds like every sentence is its own statement, rather than sounding like it all flows together. It took a bit to get used to, but after a while I barely noticed it.

brilliant and full of life

hard to believe this author escaped my attention until now
full of humor and passion and life so real it is wrapped around you.

Great narrator but wrong fit

Don't get me wrong, the narrator himself was great, but he wasn't (IMHO) the right choice to play Poldark. Honestly only Aiden Turner would've satisfied me so it's a lose/ lose scenario. Amazing story and chapters. Should be required reading!

A good book but less-certain reader

The novel itself is very good; my criticisms lie entirely with the performance. While the reader has excellect annunciation and is very talented and clear with providing clearly different voices for characters, it seems as though he doesn't actually know what he is reading. Emphasis and inflection are totally divorced from the meaning of the text or the feelings of the characters. At times it is bad enough to confuse any understanding of a scene of dialogue or the description of a setting.

Better than the PBS series

The narrator sounds exactly like the voice on Ross on the tv series. Many deeper details and securely clean. I enjoyed this book.