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Graham, unusually when considering the snobbery or dislike of many who moved to Cornwall from the cities, never felt himself different, or superior, to the Cornish. Instead he possessed a passionate love for the Duchy that can be seen most plainly in his Poldark books. This series also features Cornish-bred heroes rather than characters who we are told have moved to Cornwall, such as in the works of other writers of Cornwall like Daphne Du Maurier. It is never disputed that the families in Poldark are anything other than Cornish families, living as the Cornish did. Because, quite evidently, in suitability for a gripping and interesting story, Graham saw little that needed to be changed about Cornwall or the Cornish. His passion for Cornwall really took shape, he said, when serving as a coastguard in the Second World War. Spending large periods of time thinking while gazing at the Cornish coastline, he ‘came to watch and understand the sea and to love Cornwall in a new way’.
George Warleggan, played by Ralph Bates (right), talks to fellow actor Christopher Biggins (who played Rev Osborne Whitworth) during the filming of Poldark at St Winnow Church.
Here began the inspiration for the books that arguably brought Cornwall and Cornish culture to the fore. In fact, Graham loved Cornwall so much that even when he and his family had to move away in 1959, he continued to return for regular holidays and visits to friends. Jo Mattingly feels that a much more honest view of Winston Graham is offered by considering the relationships he treasured with friends in Cornwall, to whom he was loyal and supportive. When an idea for a story came, she says, he was always sure to share the money with those who needed it. Of particular interest to those keen to get to know Graham will be a collection of his letters to friend and historical advisor Fred Harris, which display a unique, witty, and often naughty, sense of humour that brings him to life.
One hundred years after his birth, Winston Graham is still as popular today as when his books were first published. It says something about the strength of his characters and portrayal of Cornwall that Bella Poldark, the final Poldark book, could be published in 2002, 57 years after the first, and still be received by a heartily appreciative audience. Instead of Graham’s appeal dying out, new generations of readers are beginning to fall in love with his books all over again. Perhaps it is in part due to his ability to merge so seamlessly the gripping and exciting with the tragic. The thrilling realms of ghosts, crime, and even the French Revolution, combine with heart-rending subjects like extreme poverty, disease, paralysis, and premature death in an effort to never shy away from the real and upsetting in life. In the days of Poldark, the upper-classes may have been privileged, but Graham never excludes the hardships of honest (and thoroughly dishonest) working-class Cornish people. The result is ever and always an entertainingly accurate account of life that keeps any reader wanting more.
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