Poldark Season 2: 10 Changes from the Books to the Small Screen

Caroline Penvenen

While Jeremy Poldark and Warleggan don’t show a Caroline that’s much different from the one we see on the small screen in terms of personality, there are two differences. First, Winston Graham’s discussion of Caroline’s clothes is not nearly as sumptuous as what we can see on screen. We point you to that saucy red coat above. Yeah, book Caroline does not have a saucy red coat.

However, she does have red hair. More specifically, she has auburn or tawny hair, to borrow Graham’s words throughout the two novels in which she first appears. Pretty much every character makes note of it when seeing Caroline or talking about her. Indeed, Miss Penvenen is also actually described as being quite tall for a woman. She still spoils Horace to a ludicrous degree, though she doesn’t carry him everywhere.

It’s tough to picture Caroline with a different hair color, but it seems that three of the major women of Poldark have effectively swapped hair colors. Demelza has dark hair, Elizabeth bright, and Caroline auburn. Now Demelza’s the redhead, Elizabeth’s dark-haired, and Caroline’s the blonde.

At least Verity gets to keep her dark hair from page to screen. That does count for something, doesn’t it?