Snowdrops and Winterberry by Sarah M. Eden Gives Insight into Adam Boyce's Character for Seeking Persephone Fans
The four-part Regency romance series Seeking Persephone has exploded in popularity, built a devoted social media following, and inspired readers to binge Sarah M. Eden’s novels set in the Lancaster Family universe.
If you’re a fellow “Seeker” intrigued by Adam Boyce, the Duke of Kielder, you’ll want to read Snowdrops and Winterberry. Although it’s part of the Gents series, the novel explores Adam’s formative years after his father’s death. It answers many of the questions surrounding Adam as it reveals the experiences that shaped him into the formidable, feared man readers encounter in Seeking Persephone.
Adam Boyce Is Sent Away to Harrow
Adam is only seven when his father dies. At an age when he should be surrounded by love and comfort, his mother sends him away to boarding school until he is old enough to attend Harrow.
His nursemaid, Robbie MacGregor, loves him as her own son. It breaks her heart to watch Adam suffer, learn to expect abandonment, and grow hardened and fierce in his struggle to protect himself.
When Lord and Lady Jonquil invite Adam to Brier Hill during a school break, Nurse Robbie is overjoyed. Since Adam’s parents were not on good terms, she hopes he will finally experience the warmth of a happy marriage and a welcoming, peaceful home.
The Jonquils see beyond Adam’s guarded exterior and shower him with love and kindness. Although he wonders whether they care for him only because he is a duke, they prove again and again that their affection is rooted in who he truly is.
The Jonquils Model Normalcy to Adam
Adam can hardly believe that the Jonquils genuinely enjoy spending time with him. When they discover that he had been left alone at boarding school over Christmas, they delight him by recreating Christmas morning.
Lord Jonquil loves to tease and act silly—something entirely foreign to Adam, whose father taught him to be serious and never frivolous. But Lord Jonquil’s antics are too amusing to resist. Before long, Adam joins in the fun, even smiling and laughing—a rarity for him.
As Adam grows closer to the Jonquils, he slowly lowers his guard. Eventually, he even allows himself to cry in their presence. He comes to understand that Lord Jonquil’s hugs make him feel safe, while Lady Jonquil’s are like being wrapped in a soft, warm blanket
The Jonquils invite Adam to spend all his school breaks with them, but his mother refuses. The Dowager Duchess insists that he spend that time at Falstone Castle so he can become familiar with the staff and prepare to assume his responsibilities when he is older.
Although Adam is disappointed that he cannot see the Jonquils as often as he would like, they remind him that family is who you choose. They promise to choose him forever—and they keep that promise.
Adam's Inner Turmoil & How It Carries Through to Seeking Persephone
One passage describes Adam this way: He was quiet and shy but also deeply curious and had a heart that, while guarded, was tender and compassionate.
Adult Adam demonstrates these qualities repeatedly in Seeking Persephone. He covers Persephone with a blanket, worries when she is thrown from a horse, rushes to her when wolves frighten her, helps her learn what happened to Linus, dances with her after the ball, and shows his concern for her in countless other ways.
Yet Adam has spent much of his life believing that dukes do not need people. As a child, he reminds himself of what his father taught him: dukes work hard, care for others, shoulder responsibility, and do not get to be happy. It is no wonder that Adam and Persephone find themselves at odds. Both assume they will be denied a happy ending, and neither can imagine that their lives might turn out differently.
Adam’s guarded nature is evident from the beginning of Seeking Persephone. He acts offended when Harry calls him by his given name and when Persephone expects to do the same. Still, he allows it. Perhaps he remembers something Lord Jonquil said when he agreed that Adam could call him “Lucas”: Sometimes it’s nice to have someone remember who you are and not merely what you are.
That distinction—between who Adam is and what he represents—lies at the heart of his character. As an adult, Adam expects Persephone to leave him just as his mother did. Nurse Robbie explains that so many people have disappointed and abandoned him that he has come to expect it. Adam tells Lady Jonquil, whom he eventually calls Mother Julia, No one is ever happy to be with me, and he admits that his mother forgets him all the time.
Nurse Robbie worries about what will happen when she is eventually replaced by a governess. Losing another constant in his life, she fears, could devastate him. She understands that when Adam believes he is about to be hurt, he closes himself off and shields himself with anger. She worries that his anger will become armor and that the tenderhearted little boy I know will disappear inside it.
This is precisely the man readers meet at the beginning of Seeking Persephone: a tenderhearted person hidden behind layers of anger, aloofness, and rejection.
Harry tells Persephone that Adam is worth “sorting out.” Even as a child, Adam conveys to others that his respect is not easily earned—but that it is worth obtaining. As an adult, Harry realizes that the way to earn Adam’s respect is to refuse to be bullied by him. Adam respects people who are not intimidated by him and do not pity him. Persephone eventually earns that respect because she refuses to back down and because she accomplishes what she sets out to do, including learning to ride a horse.
Harry also says that nothing scares Adam, but readers soon discover that this confidence is a mask covering how frightened Adam truly is. He initially acts distant toward Persephone, yet it is not long before he fears she will leave him, even though he cannot admit it. He often watches her from a distance so that she can't see the yearning and turmoil he hides, which echoes a similar scene from Snowdrops and Winterberry when he visits Brier Hill as a teen. The book describes how much he misses Mother Julia but likes being able to feel things but not be seen feeling them. He finds himself too nervous to look at her because if she appears disappointed at his arrival, his heart couldn't endure it--likely another reason, aside from his scarred face, that he initially won't look at Persephone directly.
His care for Harry reveals another layer of his character. When Harry becomes ill at the Boar & Dagger, Adam’s concern makes it clear how deeply he cares for the friend he constantly derides. In Snowdrops and Winterberry, readers learn that Adam has a joyful, gentle heart despite being a guarded child.
Because Adam believes that loving someone means doing what is best for them, he thinks allowing Persephone to return to her family is the loving choice. He does not understand how deeply this decision breaks her heart. In Snowdrops and Winterberry, he learns that anytime you can make the women you care about happy, that’s a fine thing. He is also guided by the belief that a person should never make someone he loves hurt in her heart. As he grows older, he draws on this understanding when he recognizes how lonely Persephone is and how deeply she misses her family.
One childhood moment is reflected beautifully in his relationship with Persephone. When eight-year-old Adam realizes that he must let go of someone he loves, he cries. Lady Jonquil comforts him by covering him with a blanket and tucking him into bed. Years later, when Adam finds Persephone “indisposed” on her bed, he covers her with a blanket. It is something he learned firsthand could provide comfort. Adam never admonishes Persephone for crying, and it might be due to Lucas teaching him that the most important thing a person can do when he feels the need to cry is to cry. Adam understands why Persephone flees to the garden when she's grieved because a garden is one of the central story threads in Snowdrops and Winterberry. Young Adam learns that gardens are very peaceful...many people like them because they help when we're sad or overwhelmed or sorrowing.
Nurse Robbie can imagine Adam becoming an authoritative and frightening duke, but she hopes he will temper that authority with the goodness and compassion in his heart.
Five years later, in Snowdrops and Winterberry, readers learn that Lord Jonquil is the only person who teases Adam because everyone else is too afraid. Harry clearly feels comfortable teasing him, even though it makes Adam “prickly.” Adam surprises Persephone when he teases her the night before the ball, and this playful side of him seems to stem largely from Lucas’s influence.
Mother Julia teaches Adam that loving someone means wanting that person to be happy. Her hugs make him feel as though he can breathe, and her loving smile soothes the ache he carries inside. Persephone eventually has a similar effect on him.
The Jonquils, despite having several children of their own, consider Adam one of their boys. They assure him that they will always choose him as family. This closely echoes Persephone’s promise that she would return home—always.
Adam’s story is ultimately one of learning that he is more than his title, his responsibilities, or the armor he has built around himself. Beneath the duke’s authority is the quiet, shy, curious, and compassionate boy Nurse Robbie always saw. Persephone does not create that tenderness in him; she helps him believe that he is finally safe enough to reveal it. In effect--she saves him from himself.
Snowdrops & Winterberry: Discovering the Heart Behind the Duke of Kielder
Sarah M. Eden portrays Adam Boyce’s childhood with remarkable nuance, revealing the wounds that shaped his behavior in Seeking Persephone. Fans of the four-part series will delight in discovering the connections between Adam’s past and the man he becomes.
His intimidating demeanor is rooted in childhood hurt, rejection, and trauma. Yet beneath that formidable exterior lies a tender heart—one that readers, much like Persephone, will come to cherish.
Ridiculous.
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