The Presence of Love Plot Summary
Adjunct professor, Jocelyn Lambert ("Joss"), travels to England to visit the farm where her late mother grew up and bonds with single father, Daniel, whose family now runs it.
Starring: Eloise Mumford and Julian Morris (2022)
Image: Crown Media
Publish or Perish
What is an adjunct professor? Adjunct is a fancy-sounding term for a part-time or temporary professor.
Joss is seeking tenure at the college where she teaches, and although she's one of the best on staff in the English literature department, she doesn't have the edge she needs to advance beyond an interview. Joss hasn't published enough works that have been cited or earned rewards, and this is a detriment for someone in her position.
Publish or perish is a maxim among academics--they are only as good as their last successfully published work. Colleges rely on prestige to attract funding, and prestige springs from having works published in respected and visible journals. This means professors must do research and create new, groundbreaking works to draw attention and stay ranked on top.
Joss feels the intense pressure and takes advantage of the 35th birthday present her mother bought her before she passed away: a trip to England. Joss hopes as she traces her mother's steps in the same country that spawned her most beloved poet, William Wordsworth, she will find the inspiration she needs to write a new research paper.
The Significance of Wordworth & Coleridge
It's no accident that William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are the poets whose works are featured in a Hallmark romance movie; both bards helped launch the Romantic Age in English literature. The two men met and became immediate friends.
Do you enjoy poetry?
Even if you're not a fan of iambic pentameter, sampling the best of these poets might make you a little more "cultured." Hallmark is making 18th and 19th century poetry cool again!
If you'd like to familiarize yourself with Wordsworth's eight most famous works, click here.
The Presence of Love Hallmark movie is named after a Coleridge poem of the same name. It goes like this:
And in Life's noisiest hour,
There whispers still the ceaseless Love of Thee,
The heart's Self-solace and soliloquy.
______________________
You mould my Hopes, you fashion me within ;
And to the leading Love-throb in the Heart
Thro' all my Being, thro' my pulses beat ;
You lie in all my many Thoughts, like Light,
Like the fair light of Dawn, or summer Eve
On rippling Stream, or cloud-reflecting Lake.
And looking to the Heaven, that bends above you,
How oft ! I bless the Lot, that made me love you.
Real Life Issues: Anxiety & Dyslexia
Since The Presence of Love was made for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, the subplots tap into issues some people struggle with every day.
Joss was in a car accident with her father when she was young, and the fear that took root in her life from the traumatic event is her source for severe anxiety.
Are you prone to anxiety attacks? We learn Joss manages the episodes by maintaining a healthy diet, breathing exercises, and medication. Stress is the catalyst for her attacks.
Daniel's daughter, Tegan, is diagnosed with dyslexia, and Joss knows several methods to help her express herself outside of a pencil and paper, including singing what she wants to write, drawing pictures of the stories that are read to her, and using graphic organizers. Picture cards also help her with memorization. Joss's mom had dyslexia, so Joss finds herself in familiar territory.
If you have a child who struggles with dyslexia, click here for 50 tips for helping them--as with Tegan, dyslexic kids are often very bright!
The Perfect Role for Eloise Mumford
Eloise Mumford has starred in several Hallmark movies:
Christmas with Holly (2012)
Just in Time for Christmas (2015)
A Veteran's Christmas (2018)
The Baker's Son (2021)
One December Night (2021)
Although Mumford is a great performer, she's not one of Hallmark's bubbliest. She often seems pensive, aloof, and melancholy in many of her roles, which is the perfect personality for The Presence of Love--a movie about dealing with the loss of her mother, the stress of her career, and the wistfulness of poetry.
Mumford's co-star, Julian Morris, was in the 2021 Christmas movie, A Royal Queens Christmas, and he seemed more dashing and capable of sweeping a lady off her feet in that one. In real life, Morris is an environmentalist, so he undoubtedly got his share of jollies by playing a sheep farmer planning to diversify by adding wind turbines to the property.
Good Movie, Odd Ending
It's fun when Hallmark fast-forwards to a time in the future when the viewer can peek in to see what is happening with our happy couple.
We see Joss playing a big role in Cornwall's annual literary festival. Daniel shows up and asks her to go for a walk, and she replies "always." Okay, so a year later, we're just at the "taking a walk" stage of the relationship? We needed more.
The biggest questions Hallmark fans about the movie is this: how does Joss pull multiple coats out of her suitcase that is also filled with books?
Image: Crown Media
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