Kathleen Tessaro's "The Perfume Collector"

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Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kathleen Tessaro attended the University of Pittsburgh before entering the drama program of Carnegie Mellon University. In the middle of her sophomore year, she went to study in London for three months and stayed for the next twenty-three years. She began writing at the suggestion of a friend and was an early member of the Wimpole Street Writer’s Workshop. Her debut novel, Elegance, became a bestseller in hardback and paperback. All of Tessaro's novels including Innocence, The Flirt, The Debutante, and most recently, The Perfume Collector have been translated into many languages and sold all over the world. She returned to Pittsburgh in 2009.

Here Tessaro dreamcasts an adaptation of The Perfume Collector:

If The Perfume Collector were made into a movie, I'd be extremely lucky and pleased under any conditions. There are many young actresses I'd be thrilled to see play the roles of both Eva and Grace, among them, Marion Cotillard and Claire Foy come to mind. Marion Cotillard is capable of transforming so fluidly; her sensuality and intelligence radiate in each movement and she's the kind of woman who looks as if she would smell incredible. Claire Foy on the other hand brings fragile restraint and combines it with a huge underlying vulnerability. She's distinctly English in many ways; a lovely contrast to Marion. I'd love to see Michael Fassbender play Lambert and possibly Romain Duris for Valmont, though I have to admit it would be strange to see two accomplished French actors playing out their scenes together in English. But who to play the mysterious Madame Zed? Is it too much to ask for Helen Mirren? If Ang Lee could find it in his heart to direct, I'd be over the moon. Do you recall the precise sense of place he brought to Sense and Sensibility? Evocative without being sentimental.

Learn more about the book and author at Kathleen Tessaro's website.

--Marshal Zeringue