Kitty Zeldis's "The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights"

Kitty Zeldis is the pseudonym for a novelist and non-fiction writer of books for adults and children. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, NY.

Here she dreamcasts the lead for an adaptation of her new novel, The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights:

Since The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights takes place in the 1920’s and earlier, I like to imagine it filmed in black and white or perhaps a soft, sepia tone, giving it the look of old photographs arranged in an album.

I would love to see Cate Blanchett play the role of the main character, Beatrice Carr. Bea is Russian (her name was Yevgenia) but when her father is murdered and his tannery burned to the ground, she is forced to leave her homeland to escape the the virulent anti-Semitism that threatens her too. She goes to New Orleans, where she becomes a nursemaid in a wealthy family; soon she finds herself pregnant and loses both her job and her home. Desperate and alone, she seeks refuge in the District, the notorious area of New Orleans where prostitution is legal and eventually she becomes a highly successful madam. Life has been cruel to her and she’s had to develop a hard shell to survive. Yet beneath that exterior, something tender still resides. I see in Blanchett a steely elegance and reserve that matches Bea’s, but also a vulnerability and gentleness that are Bea’s as well.

Visit Kitty Zeldis's website.

My Book, The Movie: Not Our Kind.

Coffee with a Canine: Kitty Zeldis & Dottie.

--Marshal Zeringue