Tessaro, Kathleen 1965-

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TESSARO, Kathleen 1965-

PERSONAL:

Born 1965, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Married; husband's name, James (a pianist). Education: Studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University.

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England. Agent—c/o Author Mail, 7th Floor, HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd St., New York, NY 10022.

CAREER:

Has worked as an movie, television, and theater actress, including several years with the English National Opera. Member of Wimpole Street Writers Workshop.

WRITINGS:

Elegance (novel), William Morrow (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS:

After studying drama at Carnegie-Mellon University, Kathleen Tessaro moved to London to try her luck at a stage career. With a decade of modest success on stage and screen and television, Tessaro retired from performing to train as a drama and voice coach while working for the English National Opera. At the same time, she began to write short stories, joining a women's writing workshop to hone her skills.

Her first novel, Elegance, draws on her own experiences as an expatriate American and her encounter with a curious old book, also titled Elegance, a self-help guide written in the 1960s by a grand old lady of France to provide advice on everything from wearing the right scarf to choosing the right friends. In Tessaro's book, a frumpy, fortyish expatriate in a passionless marriage embraces the advice in the self-help guide, gradually discarding her shapeless dresses and Birkenstocks for a more elegant wardrobe. "Ironically, in her imitation of elegance, she somehow manages to find her true self," noted Library Journal reviewer Shelley Mosley. For with the new clothes comes a new self-confidence and a willingness to open herself to new experiences. "Through vivid descriptions, lively mishaps and devastating details, Tessaro serves up a witty, original, fast-moving debut. Louise's story lightheartedly reveals the frailties and possibilities in all of us," concluded a USA Today reviewer.