Le Droit de Choisir

As a rule, I’m not a fan of film adaptations of books. There are of course exceptions, but it’s rare that I finish a book and go, “Wow, this would make a great movie!” After finishing The Perfume Collector, however, I have to say that this would make an excellent HBO miniseries. The story takes place in 1955 Paris and then 1920’s and 30’s New York, Monte Carlo, England, and France. The lush costumes, the glamours sets, the sprawling story of two women who are both trying to figure out what their purpose in life is, what they want. It would be some excellent stuff. I think a lot of that has to do with Tessaro’s very rich story telling. This is a woman who loves details and descriptions. She wants you to see the world she’s imagining here, to really be able to visualize the characters and the places. It’s one of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much.