What if you could hear the untold story behind one of literature’s most overlooked characters? Local author Allyson Reedy gives Myrtle Wilson a voice in her daring new novel.
Mrs. Wilson’s Affair is a feminist retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic The Great Gatsby from the perspective of Myrtle Wilson. Her new book offers a striking exploration of how loneliness and longing can shape a life—and it may forever change the way you experience Fitzgerald’s classic. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the book’s original release.
“And people are still reading it. People are still talking about it; they’re still interested,” Allyson says.
Allyson’s name may ring a bell—she’s a celebrated food writer in the region and a former editor of this very publication. With four books to her credit—three beloved cookbooks and one guiding readers away from chain dining—Mrs. Wilson’s Affair marks an intriguing departure from her culinary roots.
The idea of writing a novel, sparked by a book she treasures so deeply she owns 52 editions, emerged during a particularly challenging chapter in her life. What began as a creative experiment soon evolved into a deeply therapeutic project, providing both focus and comfort while she navigated a separation.
Years later, a publisher offered to bring it to print just as she was recovering from breast cancer.
“It was such perfect timing, like a nice pick me up after that,” she says.
Allyson first fell in love with The Great Gatsby in high school, yet she always felt that Myrtle’s character was one-dimensional, which bothered her. That lingering curiosity eventually inspired her to give Myrtle a fully realized voice of her own.
Since Mrs. Wilson’s Affair follows the same timeline and events as The Great Gatsby, Allyson says much of her research involved digging into Fitzgerald’s text and taking detailed notes on every line of Myrtle’s dialogue to fully understand what was unfolding—often using the exact same lines.
“I tried to stay very accurate to those original guardrails that were kind of in place for me while still incorporating my Myrtle into it and my version of her,” she says.
Although the book is set in 1922, Allyson says it still addresses issues that resonate today, such as class differences and the limited choices available to women.
“Those same issues, they’re still here,” Allyson says. “I think it's still relevant.”
With Mrs. Wilson’s Affair set to be released on Oct. 14, readers have plenty to look forward to—and Allyson isn’t slowing down. She already has another fiction project in the works. Look for her novel wherever books are sold.
Article by Emily O'Brien
Originally published in Boulder Lifestyle