Mr. Wilder and Me

By: Jonathan Coe

Narrated by: Kristen Atherton

FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE ROTTERS' CLUB AND 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 realization 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?

©2022 Jonathan Coe (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Excellent.

Quirky but very interesting and absorbing story. Very well narrated. Kept me hooked right until the very end. Highly recommended.

Terrific narrator for a very enjoyable book!

This novel shifts back and forth from present to past. The present, which is about the narrator of the story's life with her husband and daughter is rather thin and feels a bit forced. But... when she goes back in time to her experiences with Billy Wilder, the book comes alive and is absolutely fascinating and delightful. Fortunately, the past is most of the book with the present is more of a framing device.
It was such a rare pleasure to listen to a narrator who could actually pronounce Greek, German, French as well as British and American accents! I hope Kristen Atherton will narrate many more books. And her performance of Billy Wilder was great fun to listen to. He was certainly one of the great directors of all time, a brilliant man with a compelling story and it is a wonderful subject for a novel. I recommend this book, and imagine all the film history buffs will especially love it.