Although Ross Poldark - now something of a war hero - seems secure in his hard won prosperity, a new dilemma faces him in the sudden infatuation of a young naval officer for his wife Demelza.

The Poldark family awaits the return of Ross from his mission to Wellington's army in Portugal. But their ordered existence ends with Jeremy Poldark's dramatic rescue of a stranger from the sea. Stephen Carrington's arrival in the Poldark household changes all their lives.

Reeling from the tragic death of a loved one, Captain Poldark vents his grief by inciting impoverished locals to salvage the contents of a ship run aground in a storm, an act for which British law proscribes death by hanging. As Ross is brought to trial for his involvement, his wife, Demelza, tries to rally support to save him and their family.

Valentine Warleggan's paternity still poisons the atmosphere, and his financial and marital troubles form a major narrative strand set firmly against the saga's familiar background of Cornwall. Meanwhile, Bella Poldark's desire for a musical career takes her to stages in London and France, where she is involved with rival suitors. Her widowed older sister, Clowance, must also choose between two men of vastly different backgrounds who propose marriage....

Cornwall, 1813: A silver cup lies half-forgotten in a dank cave, amongst a pile of stolen goods. Yet the tiny vessel and its inscription haunts the lives of the still-feuding Poldark and Warleggan families. Ross, Demelza and the ambitious and powerful Sir George Warleggan watch their children make the decisions that will shape their destinies. In the closing years of the wars against Napoleon, for Jeremy and Clowance, and for arrogant, cynical Valentine...

"Laura Callaway daily walks the windswept Cornwall coast, known for many shipwrecks but few survivors. And when a man with curious wounds and an odd accent is washed ashore, she cares for him while the mystery surrounding him grows. Can their budding attraction survive, and can he be returned to his rightful home when danger pursues them from every side?"--Provided by publisher.