Seeking Persephone is a beautifully filmed Regency romance set mostly in a lonely castle in 1805. It’s a slow burn romance between two unlikely people told in four episodes.

Seeking Persephone relies heavily on references to the myth of Persephone, a goddess who spent half her time in the underworld with Hades and half her time on Earth. The old tale of Beauty and the Beast is also recognizable in the plot. The hero Adam (Jake Stormoen), an English Duke, was born without an ear. Surgeries intended to repair this disfigured him even more. His very gruff exterior was meant to protect him from pity or remarks about his appearance.

Adam is advised to marry in order to protect his castle and estate from distant relatives. He finds a broke family living far away and offers the father (Will Kemp) a very large sum of money for his eldest daughter’s hand in marriage.

The eldest daughter is Persephone (Ryann Bailey). She’s been caring for her siblings since her mother died. All the children have Greek names: Athena (Catherine Hannay), Linus (Rocco Padden), Artemis (Eva Cambers), and
Daphne (Willow Bell). Persephone sees the marriage as a way to save the family and marries the grumpy Duke in the far off castle.

Other than servants, no one is at the castle except Adam, Persephone, and Adam’s permanently visiting friend Harry (Toby-Alexander Smith). Persephone is beautiful, kind, sensitive, and charming. She quickly wins over Harry and all the servants. Adam is a hard case.

The majority of the episodes deal with Adam’s slow transition from icy cold to warm and in love. It’s done in tiny increments that let both actors show their strengths and demonstrate how chemistry develops. The movement from the hilarious and austere wedding to the kiss at the end is carefully told and seems natural for the time. Two strangers who learn to live with each other and love each other happens as more of a slow trickle than a dam breaking all at once.

The series was written by Sarah M. Eden based on her novel. Sarah M. Eden is the author of dozens of historical novels. This one manages to create a swoon worthy romance with no bad language, no sex scenes, no smoking, and plenty of refined English manners.

Seeking Persephone may have been a Prime Video production. It’s available in the US and UK on Prime. But you can also watch it in the US on Peacock, Plex, and the Roku Channel.