Serena Burdick's "The Girls with No Names"

Serena Burdick is the Toronto Star, Publishers Weekly and international bestselling author of The Girls with No Names, now out in the US, Canada and Australia. It is forthcoming in Portugal, Spain, Lithuania and Russia. She is the 2017 International Book Award Winner for Historical Fiction for her novel Girl in the Afternoon. Burdick studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence, holds a Bachelors of Arts from Brooklyn College in English literature and an Associates of Arts from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in theater. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two sons.

Here Burdick dreamcasts an adaptation of The Girls with No Names:

The Girls with No Names is told from three, first person perspectives, Effie, Mable and Jeanne.

In the role of Effie Tildon, a thirteen-year-old girl with an incurable heart condition, I’d cast Millie Bobbie Brown who has a perfect mix of innocence and strength. She’s a solid actor who could pull off this off well.

In the role of Mable Winter, a feisty, hardened sixteen-year-old who’s gone through sever trauma and loss, Saoirse Ronan would shine. She has just the right spunk and vivacity.

Lastly, since I am an actor turned writer, and because it’s always nice to cast a fresh face, if you will, I’d go ahead cast myself in the role of Jeanne Tildon, Effie’s mother who finds herself with two missing daughters and a husband who does as he pleases. She has a quiet strength, and rare endurance in the face of loss.

Visit Serena Burdick's website.

--Marshal Zeringue