The fifth novel in "Poldark" book series, "The Black Moon", starts with Elizabeth delivering a son Valentine into new Warleggan family which eventually creates more conflict between Ross and George for it seems that Ross lost the love of his life once again. This novel was written with 20 years of the gap from the fourth novel "Warleggan" and is slightly different than previous books in a series regarding the writing style. As someone to whom English is a second language, I can safely say it was a nice change since previous ones used plenty of Cornish languages which I found difficult to read and understand.

The fifth book also doesn't centralize the relationship between our main characters- Ross and Demelza- but rather focuses on a newly presented characters Drake and Sam Carne (Demelza's brothers) and Morwenna Chynoweth, Elizabeth's cousin and now governess of her older son Geoffrey Charles. Winston Graham continues putting his characters into various conflicts for the purpose of keeping the reader's attention and, in my humble opinion, he does it quite well.

"The Black Moon" focuses on the growing romantic relationship between Drake and Morwenna, causing even more conflicts between Ross and George. Also, one of the characters we got to meet before, dr. Dwight Enys, is being captured in France during the conflicts between Royalists and Republicans which gives a good reason for Ross to rise up again as an undying hero, traveling to France in order to save a friend.
Upon his arrival in Cornwall, he had to deal with false accusations George put on Drake but manages to save him from hanging. Once again we see the twisted side of Warleggan as he pushes Morwenna into an unwanted marriage with reverend Osbourne Whitworth- hypocritical, abusive, and loathful vicar of Cornwall- in order to separate her from Drake.
Another character, known from the previous novels, is an old aunt Agatha Poldark who grew to hate George and him her. At the end of the book, she cast a huge shadow about Elizabeth's newborn son Valentine, making him think Valentine isn't Warleggan but is rather conceived outside of that marriage.
This way Winston Graham successfully wrapped the story into a nice package as a very good sequel to previous novels.

If you are interested in political conflicts in England and France at the end of the 18th century then I think you will definitely like how Winston Graham shaped his opinion into characters from both sides.

I especially liked how HORRIBLE George Warleggan is as a protagonist in this story. I have never admired any protagonist like him before. He is definitely keeping the reader's interest. In this fifth book, he is trying to find a suitable husband to Morwenna. His idea of candidates is entirely based on his interest and male appetite: he would sell her to an old sick man, to someone who is a younger son of an old family to get his connections to other ancient, rich families. Here is just a snippet from the book to show how cold he is in a wake of people's emotions. A conversation between him and Elizabeth:

"I have no doubt she will marry in due course, George. She's- as you say she is not uncomely, and she has a gentle and sweet nature. But I think you have forgotten the big stumbling stone- she has no money."
"No, I had not forgotten that. But there are some who would be glad of a young wife. Older man, I mean. Widowers and the like. Or some young man would be glad enough to ally themselves with us if only by marriage."
~~~
"So surely some names will have come to your mind. Should we not make a list?"
"No, we should not. You find this amusing?"
"I do a little. I think Morwenna would be flattered to know you spare her so much attention. And now you cannot leave me in this suspense."
He looked at her, not liking to be laughed at. "One idly turns thoughts over. No more. One I had considered was John Trevaunance."
Elizabeth stared at him. The laughter had quite gone from he eyes. "Sir John!... But what gave you such an idea? A confirmed bachelor. And he is old. He must be sixty!"
"Fifty-eight. I asked him in September."

Even though the new writing style was more understandable to me, I missed descriptions of places that Winston Graham shared in previous books. Perhaps one of the reasons why "The Black Moon" was lacking it is fact that more than a half of the book was set in France where Ross did everything to save his friend Dwight from the horror of war.

I felt like the misfortune and misery of Winston Graham characters will never stop, as there will always be something new to disturb their rare quiet moments. While I'm alright with conflicts because they seem natural and realistic, I can understand why some people say they are already getting bored because their beloved characters never seem to have happy days.

During his youth, Graham was a keen tennis player and recorded in his diaries how many sets he played each day. He lived in Perranporth from 1925 until 1959, and briefly in the south of France during 1960, then settled in East Sussex.

This is the first book in a series that can stand on its own. You don't really need to read previous ones in order to play catch-ups. "The Black Moon" perfectly stands as a separate novel. I guess you'd be interested to read basic info about who Ross, Demelza, George, and Dwight is but previous extensive knowledge about characters isn't necessary to start and finish with a reading of "The Black Moon".

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Created Aug 08, 2019 at 10:53am • Submit your own review...