Story charts the relationship between a UK divorcee and US novelist through their shared love of food.

BBC Films has optioned Deborah McKinlay’s novel That Part Was True. Christine Langan, head of BBC Films, described the book as “a stunning novel”.

“Deborah is a wonderful storyteller whose characters leap off the page, their dilemmas subtly touching modern nerves. We’re delighted to be bringing her engrossing world to the big screen for the first time,” added Langan.

The story begins when Eve Petworth writes to Jackson Cooper to praise a scene in one of his books and they discover a mutual love of cookery and food. Their friendship grows against the backdrop of Jackson’s unsatisfying love life and Eve’s tense relationship with her soon-to-be married daughter and plans are made to meet in Paris - a meeting Eve believes can never happen.

The novel will be published in the UK by Orion from this week.

BBC Films’ upcoming titles include Pascal Chaumeil’s A Long Way Down, which opens in March; Joanna Hogg’s Exhibition, set for release in April; and Ben Kellett’s Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie - based on the hit BBC comedy series - that will be in cinemas summer 2014.

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