A rabid Anglophile since being stationed at an RAF base with the USAF in her twenties, Walker lives in Northern California with her Renaissance-man husband and two rescue terriers, where she drinks tea and dreams of England.
Her new novel is The Postmistress of Puddlington.
Here Walker dreamcasts an adaptation of the new novel:
I’m a big movie buff, so when I began writing The Postmistress of Puddlington during lockdown, I cast the film in my head.Visit Laura Jensen Walker's website.
Middle-aged spinster postmistress Hester Smith who loves Dickens and Jane Eyre is a toss-up between Olivia Colman and Kate Winslet—without makeup. Both are excellent actresses and Kate has proven she can do plain as shown in Mare of Easttown. (Plus, her hair color is the same as Hester’s.) But. . . there’s something about Olivia Colman that gives her a slight edge.
For Minerva Winterbottom, the bohemian, aging lady of the manor who likes to jitterbug, I envisioned two of my favorite actresses, and found it impossible to choose between them. Sadly, since then Dame Judi Dench has gone blind and at ninety, has aged out of the sixty-something role of Minerva. Therefore, (drumroll) the only woman to play Lady Winterbottom is Dame Emma Thompson. Emma epitomizes bohemian and is a phenomenal actress. (That scene in Love, Actually where she realizes her husband—played by Alan Rickman—cheated on her, is a masterclass in acting.) Also, the divine Emma is absolutely hilarious and wrote the Academy Award-winning screenplay for Sense and Sensibility.) Enough said.
Then there’s Mary Robins, vicar’s wife and president of the local W.I. (Women’s Institute.) Initially, I thought of Rachel Weisz or perhaps Emily Blunt. Lately though I’ve been leaning toward Anna Madeley who does such a lovely job playing Mrs. Hall, the housekeeper, in All Creatures Great and Small.
For Mary’s pretty daughter Violet, I kept seeing Anne Hathaway in my head as I wrote. In my opinion, Anne is one of the most beautiful, talented actresses in Hollywood. And she’s proven she can do an English accent. Unfortunately, she’s now in her forties, while Violet is eighteen at the start of the war and twenty-four when Puddlington ends in 1945. I racked my brain trying to think of beautiful, dark-haired young actresses and came up with Selena Gomez—though I don’t know if she can do a British accent. If not, then Rachel Shenton who plays James Herriott’s wife Helen in All Creatures Great and Small, would be perfect.
Nora Clarke, the final character in my quintet of English women was the easiest to cast. Violet’s best friend Nora moved to the U.S. at thirteen when her American dad had to return home to care for his parents. She returns to England at nineteen to do her bit by enlisting in the Royal Navy as a “Wren” in 1939. Emma Watson (Hermione from the Harry Potter movies) was hands down Nora from the get-go.
Lastly, Amos Brown, the hulking, middle-aged gardener who quotes Wordsworth is Ciarán Hinds all the way. I’ve loved the Irish Ciarán since he played Captain Wentworth in Persuasion. I also adored him in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and Belfast (for which he should have won the Oscar, in my opinion.) Runner ups: Colin Firth and Clive Owen, both now in their sixties, which is hard to believe. Colin Firth will always be Mr. Darcy to me.
My Book, The Movie: The Alphabet Sleuths.
Q&A with Laura Jensen Walker.
The Page 69 Test: The Alphabet Sleuths.
Writers Read: Laura Jensen Walker (February 2026).
--Marshal Zeringue
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