The Poldark and Warleggan families continue to feud and try to deal with personal losses and social unrest after the Napoleonic wars. As the story opens, 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.