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Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II
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Twenty-five years after her passing, Audrey Hepburn remains the most beloved of all Hollywood stars, known as much for her role as UNICEF ambassador as for films like Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Several biographies have chronicled her stardom, but none has covered her intense experiences through five years of Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. According to h
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When I think of Audrey Hepburn I picture the beautiful, iconic movie star who always appeared so regal, no matter what role she played. I love many of her movies - Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Charade, My Fair Lady, to name a few. I also knew about her work with UNICEF later in her life, but I didn’t know much more about her than that. If you’re looking for the story of her Hollywood years, this is not it. This book details her earlier life in the Netherlands when it was occupied by the Nazis. From t ...more
As a young girl, watching Audrey Hepburn in the many movies she made, I found her to genuine, graceful and classy. Didn't have any idea of who she was nor what she went through before her movie career. This book centers on that time, a time when a young girl was caught in Hitler's scourges.
She was living in the Netherlands when Hitler invaded, at first things moved slowly, but soon the effects could be felt by all. She loved ballet, took lessons and became quite good. She would eventually dance ...more
She was living in the Netherlands when Hitler invaded, at first things moved slowly, but soon the effects could be felt by all. She loved ballet, took lessons and became quite good. She would eventually dance ...more
An interesting, well written and well researched account of Audrey Hepburn and her experiences through five years of Nazi Occupation of the Netherlands. Some readers who may be more interested in her film career might be a little disappointed in this one as it delves more in the Audrey’s life through the war in the Netherlands which was fascinating to read and after with her movie career and her work with Children and UNICEF.
I really enjoyed this book because it chronicles her war Experiences ...more
I made it over halfway, but DNF'd this one when it was clear this was a bait and switch. Audrey Hepburn's name and image was put on the cover to sell copies.
This was a very dry, repetitive narrative with a lot of filler about the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. It's not that these stories aren't worthwhile, but to title a book Dutch Girl, and put an image of Audrey Hepburn on the cover, one would expect the book's main focus to be Audrey Hepburn, and it was not. Her family stories are told b ...more
This was a very dry, repetitive narrative with a lot of filler about the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. It's not that these stories aren't worthwhile, but to title a book Dutch Girl, and put an image of Audrey Hepburn on the cover, one would expect the book's main focus to be Audrey Hepburn, and it was not. Her family stories are told b ...more
I am glad to have read Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II by Robert Matzen, so I am giving it three stars. It covers Audrey Hepburn’s (1929-1993) entire life. She is famed both as an actress and humanitarian in her role as Goodwill UNICEF Ambassador. The book’s central focus is however, as the title indicates, her experiences in Velp and Arnhem, Holland, during the Second World War. Clearly, memories of the war years were the impetus behind her active participation in the humanitarian e
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Mar 14, 2019
Valerity (Val)
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
2019,
biography-memoir,
war,
entertainment,
netgalley,
non-fiction,
celebrity,
wwii,
historical
This book is about Hepburn’s early years in Europe during the war. It has a foreword by her youngest son Luca Dotta. She had always been very introverted, a quiet, shy girl. Probably more so after her parents split and her father wasn’t around anymore. but the ballet lessons she loved so much finally helped her become more expressive outwardly. Her mother, Baroness Ella Van Heemstra was very pro-German before the war began and had met Hitler a couple of times during their many travels. But then
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The book has been marketed as telling the story of Audrey Hepburn's young years during World War II in which she lived in Arnhem, developing her skills as a dancer and working as an agent for the underground. While this is true in parts, it primarily chronicles what life in that town (the town of "a bridge too far") was like for the inhabitants and the transformations wrought by invasion, occupation and liberation. Such devastating affect on Audrey and members of her family was truly immersive,
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I was deeply disappointed in this bait-and-switch book aimed at fans of Audrey Hepburn. This was an overwhelmingly and excessively detailed book about WWII, specifically in the Netherlands, and oh, Audrey Hepburn was there too! If the author's goal was to impress us with all the minutia, then he succeeded. However, most people looking to read a book stated to be about Ms. Hepburn during the War aren't going to be impressed. They, like myself, are going to be angry. Additionally, for a book that
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I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Audrey Hepburn is such an iconic actress and I've seen so many of her films multiple times. Outside of her films though I didn't know much about her life, especially as a young woman growing up during WWII in Europe. This biography from Robert Matzen is a fascinating read if you're interested in her life. I learned so much about her and I can definitely say that I have a newfound respect for her knowing what she went through. Audr ...more
Audrey Hepburn is such an iconic actress and I've seen so many of her films multiple times. Outside of her films though I didn't know much about her life, especially as a young woman growing up during WWII in Europe. This biography from Robert Matzen is a fascinating read if you're interested in her life. I learned so much about her and I can definitely say that I have a newfound respect for her knowing what she went through. Audr ...more
A look at WWII in the Netherlands - specifically Arnhem and Velp - through the lens of Audrey Hepburn. Every chapter starts with one of the rare quotes by Hepburn about her experiences during the war, but the chapters heavily focus on the details of the war itself. Matzen really tries to immerse the reader in the terrifying experiences, perhaps to the extent of fabricating people’s thoughts and feelings. This book would be best loved by someone who is fond of Hepburn and is also interested in wh
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Mr. Matzen has taken bits and pieces from other biographies of Audrey Hepburn plus from Dutch historical archives and put them all together to, for the first time -- according to Audrey's youngest son -- explain just what happened to her during the WWII years in Holland that had such an impact on her life. Her son, in the Forward of the book, was grateful he finally is able to have a deeper understanding of his mother, since she would seldom talk about the war years, five years out of her life w
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In the forward, the author claims to have all this never before known knowledge about Audrey's life during the war. However, it did not appear that anything--or at least very little--was revealed about Audrey's life during that time in this book. Audrey did speak about her life during the war--most chapters start with a quote from her about it--but she spoke about it very rarely because it caused her such pain. What the author more accurately did was put what little we know about her into a wide
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FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts.
This book was amazing. I learned more about my favorite vintage actress than I ever knew previously. There were moments of levity that lightened the sober tone of the account of Audrey Hepburn’s childhood and teenage years. It’s amazing what people can survive when they band together through tough times. I never imagined how much horror Miss Hepburn had to endure during WWII. My heart breaks ...more
This book was amazing. I learned more about my favorite vintage actress than I ever knew previously. There were moments of levity that lightened the sober tone of the account of Audrey Hepburn’s childhood and teenage years. It’s amazing what people can survive when they band together through tough times. I never imagined how much horror Miss Hepburn had to endure during WWII. My heart breaks ...more
I have always loved Audrey Hepburn's films. She just shines on the screen...so beautiful, so poised and talented. I learned years ago about her charitable work through UNICEF. She was a kind and giving person, as well as intelligent and talented. This book talks about Audrey's life before Hollywood...the years she lived under the Nazi occupation of Holland.
I never realized how much she went through during World War II in the Netherlands. My respect for her has increased so much since I finished ...more
I never realized how much she went through during World War II in the Netherlands. My respect for her has increased so much since I finished ...more
Wow, I really didnt realise how interesting the WW2 / Audrey Hepburn combo would be when I first picked up this book. I'm pretty shocked at some of the things I have read.
Audrey's parents were particularly interesting, her father was British and was considered a traitor and spent most of the war in a British prison. Her mother, Dutch, actively supported and met Hitler on many occasions, and even wrote about it in a fascist newspaper, something that followed her for a lifetime and had many implic ...more
Audrey's parents were particularly interesting, her father was British and was considered a traitor and spent most of the war in a British prison. Her mother, Dutch, actively supported and met Hitler on many occasions, and even wrote about it in a fascist newspaper, something that followed her for a lifetime and had many implic ...more
Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II - Robert Matzen Biographies are not usually my thing, and biographies of celebrities even less so. Most peoples lives are terribly interesting, and the risk of learning something truly off-putting is high. So for the most part I'm a enjoy their art or athleticism or moment in history and move on, unknowing.Like much of humanity who's seen her movies, I like Audrey Hepburn: so lovely, so stylish, willing to use her fame and popularity on behalf of the w
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Dutch Girl documents the life of Audrey Hepburn during her years in the Netherlands which includes the torrent episodes of World War 2. At times the book comes across as a history book about the Netherlands and WWII and the story of a would be actress who would steal the hearts of the world in her adulthood.
The novel does not really go into her films or life after she had become a star. It does however document an important part of world history and the part she played in these events and her fa ...more
The novel does not really go into her films or life after she had become a star. It does however document an important part of world history and the part she played in these events and her fa ...more
*I received this book from the publisher to read in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own*
While the premise of this book caught my attention (I love Audrey Hepburn!), I struggled to get into this book as the amount of people mentioned and events pulled away from me enjoying getting to know Audrey's childhood. I may have tried to read more, but unfortunately the thought of it every time I needed to read it, made me cringe. So I decided to leave it after many struggles to get into ...more
While the premise of this book caught my attention (I love Audrey Hepburn!), I struggled to get into this book as the amount of people mentioned and events pulled away from me enjoying getting to know Audrey's childhood. I may have tried to read more, but unfortunately the thought of it every time I needed to read it, made me cringe. So I decided to leave it after many struggles to get into ...more
What a resilient woman Audrey Hepburn was! Dutch Girl by Robert Matzen guides the reader through young Audrey’s traumatic childhood as she and her family survived the cruelty of WWII. Matzen however, concentrated mostly on this portion of Hepburn’s life and gave much less information to her adult life, this was unfortunate. I also was very disappointed in the way the book was concluded, it felt like a very rushed ending.
This is a book about Audrey Hepburn but not the movie star person who we got to see in Breakfast at Tiffany's, My Fair Lady and many other Hollywood Films. This is the young Audrey who was a teenager during the years of the Nazi occupation of her homeland. It reads more like a history book of the war in the Netherlands than it does as a biography of a Hollywood icon and was a well researched look at how Audrey grew up and how it affected her later life.
When Audrey was 11 years old, the Germans b ...more
When Audrey was 11 years old, the Germans b ...more
If Audrey Hepburn was a puzzle, then there was a good one-third that had always been lost to the outside world. We may have seen a few pieces in biographies and a handful from her sons' books and interviews, but there was still something wanting. With Dutch Girl, we finally see just how much we had been missing.
This is not a biography for a casual fan, or someone new to Hepburn fandom and looking to learn more about her in general. Granted, you learn so much about what made Audrey Hepburn who th ...more
This is not a biography for a casual fan, or someone new to Hepburn fandom and looking to learn more about her in general. Granted, you learn so much about what made Audrey Hepburn who th ...more
I'm surprised to see some people complaining because this book isn't about Audrey Hepburn the movie star. The title refers to her as a girl in WW2, there's a picture of a girl on the cover, and the book description is clear that the focus is on her experiences in the Netherlands during the war. I chose the book precisely because of its focus on her experiences as a girl during the war and I wasn't disappointed.
Before reading this book, I hadn't known that Hepburn's mother was a Baroness, or that ...more
Before reading this book, I hadn't known that Hepburn's mother was a Baroness, or that ...more
Audrey Hepburn is best remembered for her starring roles in films—such as Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday, and My Fair Lady—and for her work as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. But what is known about her life during the years of World War 2? In Dutch Girl, Robert Matzen reveals the terrors and triumphs young Audrey experienced during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.
Part biography, part WWII history of specific areas of the Netherlands, Dutch Girl is a fascinating book. I didn't kn ...more
Part biography, part WWII history of specific areas of the Netherlands, Dutch Girl is a fascinating book. I didn't kn ...more
When my mother wanted to teach me a lesson about life she never used stories about her career. She always told stories about the war. The war was very, very important to her. It made her who she was. ~ Luca Dotti, youngest son of Audrey Hepburn
Breaking out at the height of the studio era, World War II indelibly impacted Hollywood’s stars as much as it did the movie going public. Author Robert Matzen has highlighted three dynamic instances of this in a WWII trilogy that began with Carole Lombard ...more
Breaking out at the height of the studio era, World War II indelibly impacted Hollywood’s stars as much as it did the movie going public. Author Robert Matzen has highlighted three dynamic instances of this in a WWII trilogy that began with Carole Lombard ...more
First, I had already heard that this was a history, not a biography, so I think that really improved my expectations for this read. It starts with pre-war family history and details a lot of the dynamics leading up to the war. I was surprised to hear how Audrey’s mother had initially supported Hitler before seeing the ugly side of his plans for the world.
One of my favorite parts was learning how Audrey coped with the issues of war by dancing even when she was too starved to succeed and by readi ...more
One of my favorite parts was learning how Audrey coped with the issues of war by dancing even when she was too starved to succeed and by readi ...more
I spent a lot of afternoons watching movies with my best friend growing up, and one of our favorite screen stars was Audrey Hepburn. I can't count the number of times we saw Roman Holiday, Charade, and Breakfast at Tiffany's? Audrey Hepburn was the quintessential Holly Golightly. So when I saw that a book about her life during World War II had been written, I was really excited to read it, especially when I realized I knew nothing about Audrey Hepburn's off-screen life.
Robert Matzen has written ...more
Robert Matzen has written ...more
Thought this book would actually be about Audrey Hepburn during WW2. She was in it some, but a lot is not about her. I found myself getting bored and skimming pages just to finish.
4.5 🌟 I found this story very fascinating! Learning about her background and that she wasn’t really an actress but wanted to be a dancer was very interesting. Her home life wasn’t ideal, and that her parents supported fascism in the 1930s was something she had to hide. I also learned so much about what really happened in the Netherlands during the war. The last 6 months were the most devastating and sad as many civilians died from Allied bombings and starvation. These experiences formed a lot of
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This is the most detailed account of a famous person who lived through Adolf Hitler's Nazi devastation in German occupied countries that I’ve ever read. What Audrey Hepburn went through was astounding and heartrending.
Often sounding like a documentary rather than a biography, it was none-the-less an engrossing read. I actually was so affected by it that I had to stop twice to read other less impactful books, then go back to it. (Actually Jocelyn Green's Veiled in Smoke was not really a light rea ...more
Often sounding like a documentary rather than a biography, it was none-the-less an engrossing read. I actually was so affected by it that I had to stop twice to read other less impactful books, then go back to it. (Actually Jocelyn Green's Veiled in Smoke was not really a light rea ...more
Review to follow
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| The Dutch Girl (book for July) | 1 | 3 | Jul 15, 2020 03:01PM | |
| Discussion Question #1 | 1 | 5 | Jun 22, 2020 01:24PM | |
| Play Book Tag: Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II - Robert Matzen - 3.5 Stars | 4 | 27 | Apr 08, 2019 05:51AM | |
| Novel? | 1 | 4 | Mar 26, 2019 08:19PM |
Readers also enjoyed
Robert Matzen is the author of eight books, including the bestsellers Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe and Fireball: Carole Lombard and the Mystery of Flight 3, which won the 2015 ‘Biography of the Year’ Benjamin Franklin Award and earned praise from the Smithsonian Institution.
His forthcoming Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II, involved three years of intense research and ...more
His forthcoming Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II, involved three years of intense research and ...more
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“When my mother wanted to teach me a lesson about life,' said Luca Dotti, 'she never used stories about her career. She always told stories about the war. The war was very, very important to her. It made her who she was.”
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“There's a curious thing about pain, said Audrey. 'In the beginning, it's an enemy, it's something that you don't want to face or think about or deal with. Yet with time it becomes almost a friend. If you've lost someone you love very much, in the beginning you can't bear it, but as the years go by, the pain of losing them is what reminds you so vividly of them- that they were alive. My experiences and the people I lost in the war remain so vivid for me because of the pain.”
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