According to Variety, The Hours author Michael Cunningham has begun scripting Good Grief, an adaptation of the Lolly Winston novel that is being tailored as a potential screen vehicle for Julia Roberts.

The book was bought by Universal for producer Marc Platt last year. Rumors began circulating several weeks ago that Roberts was intrigued with playing the novel's 36-year-old protagonist, who tries to piece her life back together after losing her husband to cancer.

Neither U nor Roberts' reps would confirm she was involved at all. Cunningham, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel "The Hours," spilled the beans in an upcoming issue of W.