Name: Carmen Maria's review of Mr Wilder and Me by Jonathan Coe
Item: Mr Wilder and Me
Rating: 5
Author: Carmen Maria

Jonathan Coe

A young woman named Calista meets the famed Hollywood director Billy Wilder in the sweltering summer of 1976. She knows nothing about him or his work, but this chance encounter will change her life for good. But while Calista is thrilled with her new adventure, Wilder himself - struggling to raise the money for his next feature film - is living with the realisation that his star may be on the wane. In his new novel that is, by turns, funny, tender and profoundly truthful, Jonathan Coe turns his gaze to the nature of time, fame, family and nostalgia. When the world is catapulting towards change, do you hold on for dear life or decide it's time to let go?

Mr Wilder and Me

Carmen Maria

**The dazzling new novel from the prize-winning, bestselling author of Middle England** In the heady summer of 1977, a naïve young woman called Calista sets out from Athens to venture into the wider world. On a Greek island that has been turned into a film set, she finds herself working for the famed Hollywood director Billy Wilder, about whom she knows almost nothing. But the time she spends in this glamorous, unfamiliar new life will change her for good. While Calista is thrilled with her new adventure, Wilder himself is living with the realisation that his star may be on the wane. Rebuffed by Hollywood, he has financed his new film with German money, and when Calista follows him to Munich for the shooting of further scenes, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the dark heart of his family history. In a novel that is at once a tender coming-of-age story and an intimate portrait of one of cinema's most intriguing figures, Jonathan Coe turns his gaze on the nature of time and fame, of family and the treacherous lure of nostalgia. When the world is catapulting towards change, do you hold on for dear life or decide it's time to let go? _______________________________________________________ Praise for Jonathan Coe 'Coe is a writer of uncommon decency' Observer 'Brilliantly funny' Economist 'Superb' Times 'Very, very funny' Stylist

Pam Sartain

Mr Wilder and Me by Jonathan Coe is the story of Calista's youth, which she looks back on as a middle aged woman, with 1 daughter leaving the nest, and the other making a big life decision.  Calista is remembering Billy Wilder, a Hollywood director, whom she follows to Germany for the filming of his latest film, as  he is fading out of favour with Hollywood.

This was an enjoyable book, with characters that seemed vivid, interesting and a glimpse at old Hollywood.

This is my first Jonathan Coe book, and I would read more of them!

 Mr Wilder and Me  was published on 5th November 2020, and is available on  Amazon ,  Waterstones  and  Bookshop .

You can follow Jonathan Coe on  Twitter .

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Penguin Random House .

Carmen Maria &
Mr Wilder and Me by Jonathan Coe

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Carmen Maria &Mr Wilder and Me by Jonathan Coe

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Carmen Maria &
Mr Wilder and Me by Jonathan Coe