Hollywood, Grecian films sets and an unexpected turn are all in store when reading Mr Wilder and Me.
Mr Wilder – the blurb
“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.”
Sun soaked and 21.
I picked up this in desperate need of a little sunshine during February’s endless storms. I expected Hollywood glamour, summer romance and if I’m honest something akin to Beautiful Ruins. 2 out of 3 ain’t bad and in many ways it was the perfect coming of age story. Girl jumps on a Greyhound bus, meets a film director and joins him on set for a once in a lifetime summer. Except this wasn’t really what the book was about,
It took a very unexpected twist about half way through when Billy recalls his experience shortly after World War 2. The book suddenly becomes more serious which was something I wasn’t ready for. The script style this section is delivered in further pulls you out of the story, and I’m not really sure whether I ever got back in to the book’s rhythm. I would have preferred full on ‘girl heads to Hollywood’ but it makes a good book club book containing much to mull over within its pages. It’s the second book I have read recently that features real life characters (both involving wars). Wonder if there is a third lurking about on my TBR pile?
