Does anyone remember Poldark? How about The Forsyth Saga? If you are a fan of the BBC, you probably recognize those names. If you were reading in the 1970’s and 80’s, you may remember authors like Celeste De Blasis, Catherine Cookson, Dorothy Dunnett, R.F. Delderfield, and John Jakes, who were churning out multi-generational family sagas that sold like wild.
These books are a close cousin to the romance genre. Like romance, they usually feature a strong central character plunged into a dynamic, larger-than-life setting. Sagas often deal with the decline or ascendancy of a particular family, through which the reader experiences broad, sweeping historical events without glossing over the interesting details of daily life. There is almost always a central love story running throughout the saga. But while the time frame of a romance novel usually has a compressed format, rarely lasting more than a calendar year, sagas can span decades. We get to see what happens after the hero lands the heroine. Can they make a go of the farm? Will they survive the impending war? Rarely is the story tied up with a neat little bow as is typical of a romance novel.
My favorite saga was Winston Graham’s Poldark series, first published in the 1940’s and 50’s, then made into a BBC mini-series in the 1970’s. Set against the rugged world of 18th century tin mining in Cornwall, the main character is Ross Poldark, a soldier returning home from service in the American Revolution. He arrives home to a fiancé who has abandoned him, an estate that has fallen into disrepair, and a tin mine that is on the verge of bankruptcy. Over the coming decades Ross will make and lose fortunes, earn a seat in Parliament, and battle with his nemesis, the wicked Warleggan. There is some rocky going in Poldark, but good usually wins out over evil in the end.
By the 1970’s, the popularity of sagas was so great it inspired publisher Lyle Kenyon Engel to envision and commission a series of lucrative family sagas, beginning with The Bastard by John Jakes. Featuring a young illegitimate man who emigrates from England to America in the years prior to the American Revolution, the book was so successful it eventually inspired an eight book series called the Kent Family Chronicles. Engel formulated the basic outline for the stories, commissioned a writer to produce the story, and maintained tight editorial control over the entire process. He was the driving force behind the Wagons West series, The Roselynde Chronicles, and The Australians. 
The popularity of sagas waned in the 1990s, but has anyone been reading Ken Follett? It would not surprise me if this man single-handedly breathes new life into the genre. Pillars of the Earth was magnificent, and I enjoyed the follow-up, World Without End. I have not yet had time to delve into his three-volume Century Trilogy, which will trace five families throughout the course of the major wars of the 20th century, but it is on my list.
Are there any sagas you care to recommend?
