The "Twisted Sword" starts with Napoleon escaping Elba and Ross, with his military and Parliament experience, is being sent to Paris, France to see the situation. He was offered the title of Lord which he refused at first but accepted it later. Demelza joins him with Clowance, the youngest child Henry, and their nanny Mrs. Kemp. Their journey started off well; in Paris, they attended balls and parties until the news of Napoleon heading back to Paris to take over again. Ross ends up imprisoned while Demelza manages to escape with her children to London and wait for Ross's return.

Jeremy and Cubby are happy but their happiness doesn't last long enough. Jeremy is stationed in Brussels and Cubby is pregnant with their first child. Jeremy is promoted to Captain at the very end of the war but during the last battle (Battle of Waterloo) he's being shot twice and dies on his father's arms.

On the other side, Stephen Carrington's son shows up and Clowance can't believe he didn't tell her before that he has a son. I couldn't believe it myself but, I guess, that's what Stephen is from the beginning. He was always a pretender. Anyway, George is suspicious of him after they meet up in order to talk about the credit Stephen asks from Warleggan bank but he is not sure if Stephen really participated in the robbery. He doesn't have all the necessary proof. After Stephen bought himself a horse he meets George's wife Harriet and asks her to race because Harriet was known to be a horse rider. The race doesn't end up well and Stephen is overthrown from his horse. He breaks his spine and doesn't recover from it, eventually leaving Clowance a widow.

So much heartache in this book. In the previous review, I said how I'm expecting to see how the little loving cup will be found by George and how he will use it as the evidence of robbery against Jeremy but now both, Jeremy and Stephen, are dead and I don't think George will ever find out the truth.

Speaking of George, he finds out in a gazette that Ross got the title of Lord and is extremely jealous. He is reminded of the past time when Elizabeth was still alive and how he was suspicious over Valentine's birth. I thought George will eventually give up on trying to be someone else but it seems to me he'll never change. I always thought he is the real villain of the story but he is just a person to pitty. After he finds out Harriet is pregnant, he sees the chance to replace Valentine but karma has other plans for him—Harriet delivers twin girls.

If you are a fan of history, specifically Napoleonic wars- his rise and fall- you'll absolutely love this book. It's well researched, adventurous, descriptive, and intriguing. A real historical fiction gem.

I loved to follow Ross and Demelza's journey through life. From the moment they first met, through love and loss of their first baby Julia, through Ross's venture in the mining business and later as a member of Parliament, Demelza's growth from being a miner's daughter to fully educated individual, and now being wonderful parents to their children. It's was a pure joy to follow their character development.

There is one more book in a series and I look forward to seeing how the story is wrapped up.

Even though with all the heartache regarding Jeremy and Stephen's deaths there are so many lovely moments involving Ross and Demelza. Their conversations are always interesting and it was great to see that, with time, nothing changed between them.

Also, witty remarks about George's situation gave this book some light in all that darkness.

Winston Mawdsley Graham OBE (30 June 1908 – 10 July 2003) was an English novelist best known for the Poldark series of historical novels set in Cornwall. Graham's father, Albert Grime, was a prosperous tea importer and grocer.

This book reminded me of "The Count of Monte Cristo" because both books revolve around Napoleon, his exile to Elba and his come back. Since the Poldark family is moved to Paris for a while, there are plenty of wonderful passages about life in France that you'd find interesting if you loved "The Count of Monte Cristo" or if you love French history.

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Created Dec 01, 2019 at 7:12am • Submit your own review...