How could a red-blooded American male who grew up watching Westerns find himself gobsmacked by a four-episode romantic series set in 19th-century England with the un-macho-like title Seeking Persephone?

I have some explaining to do.

In my youth, I enjoyed all things Western. Yes, give me a Western with John Wayne, Gary Cooper, or Jimmy Stewart. Even today, I’ll rewatch these morality tales time and again that display American masculinity in all its glory. I still think John Wayne should have won an Oscar for The Searchers.

So how could a guy like me like love an English period drama about a girl named Persephone?

I blame my wife.

Or maybe my daughters.  

I can trace my initial appreciation for period romances to the mid-1980s, when a television miniseries titled Anne of Green Gables, starring Megan Fellows, captured the hearts and minds of women everywhere.  My bride and three adolescent daughters fell in love with the impulsive, dramatic, stubborn yet sensitive Anne Shirley and her adventures on a Prince Edward Island farm.  It’s taken me almost forty years to admit it, but I enjoyed it too.

Then came Pride and Prejudice.  Once again, my wife insisted we watch a six-episode 1995 British television drama based on Jane Austen’s 1813 novel.  Fearing my manhood would be questioned, I made sure all the doors were locked and the curtains closed as we became enraptured by Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy.  And yes, I do think Colin Firth was the best Mr. Darcy I have seen.  That includes the 1940 adaptation starring Laurence Olivier.  I am just saying…

All this to say, my taste in movies has evolved.  I am now, in my Medicare years, comfortable enough in my manhood to admit that I can enjoy something beyond a testosterone-infused Western, even a romantic English period drama.  

Last night, my wife and I watched the four episodes of Seeking Persephone for the second time on Angel Guild media.  Unlike Pride and Prejudice, whose storyline ends with a wedding, Seeking Persephone starts with one.  The story follows Persephone Lancaster, the oldest daughter of an impoverished English family, as she marries the richest and most feared man in England, the reclusive, enigmatic, scarred (both physically and emotionally) Duke of Kielder.  Think of it as an English Victorian version of Beauty and the Beast.

It is a testament to the power of gentle persistence.  Persephone won over the Duke of Kielder.  And, if I am honest with myself, she won over this Western genre enthusiast as well.  

I might even watch it a third time.

It is a love story reflecting the virtue of selfless sacrifice, the deceptiveness of first impressions, and the patience required to discover and reveal true character. The dialogue captures the Duke’s internal struggle to love his new bride while Persephone gradually reveals that she is his match in every way.  Which may explain why my favorite line in the movie is “Shut up, Harry!”

But be careful.  If you watch it, you might be gobsmacked, too!

And do not be surprised if some of the next generation of newborn girls are named Persephone.