Really interesting non-fiction book regarding young Audrey Hepburn and her family during WWII. Packed with details.

In the early 1980’s, there was a successful advertising campaign centered on the phrase “where’s the beef” and it applies to this book as “where’s Audrey Hepburn”. Instead of focusing on Ms Hepburn’s actual life, there are long passages about her family (titled but broke), especially her mother, and the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Or at least that’s what I found in the portion of the book I was able to struggle through. I have to admit to making it only about 25% of the way in before giving up. There were many reasons for abandoning the book. Firstly, the writing is very dry and repetitive. Additionally, there were numerous turns of phrase that read like awkward English translations from another language. In the places where Ms. Hepburn actually appears, there’s too much “tell” and not enough “show”. The author and introduction by Ms Hepburn’s son led me to expect significant insights into her life during the war and I just didn’t find them (again, maybe it shows up later).

I really wanted to like this book. I am a fan of Ms. Hepburn’s work, and knew nothing of her background. It never occurred to me that she was Dutch, nor that she would have been a survivor of a 4-year long occupation of her homeland. And, though I’ve read a number of books about WWII in France, Britain and Italy, none have ever taken place in the Netherlands. I did learn some things about that occupation, but it simply wasn’t enough of interest to keep me going to the end.

I want to thank NetGallery, the publishers and author for a complimentary ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

really enjoyed reading this book. I found it really informative and learnt details about WWII which I did not know about. I was fascinated by all the effort and research the author put into the book and how he was able piece together so much of information about Audrey's, her parents and relatives.

I found the book a little long and wish it would have been condensed down a bit more than it was. But I imagine that was very challenging for the author considering the amount of research and effort that went into the book.

It is certainly a worthwhile read.

Robert Matzen is the author of Dutch Girl : Audrey Hepburn and World War II.
One of my all time favorite stories is Gigi!
Well known for her role in My Fair Lady, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Roman Holiday,
Audrey Kathleen van Heemstra Ruston, also had a secretive past.
This book is an eye opening look into that hidden past.

This book reveals the turbulent childhood of Hepburn,
living in the Netherlands through the German invasion and occupation of 1939 -1944.
The details of the story presented in Dutch Girl are fascinating in that they
happened to Audrey Hepburn, but also this is a historical account of World War II from
the Dutch perspective that has not really been examined until now.
The book reflects on the five years that Hepburn and her family along with the
Dutch people lived under Hitler’s rule.
“Not that they had ever listened to his speeches or obeyed,
but it had been a life under the oppression of his terrible will
and his twisted soul that they had endured.” Audrey and her family
lived in the town of Velp, which when the British and Americans came to
liberate them had been under siege and everyone was living in hiding.

She was sixteen at the time of the liberation. Audrey and her mother went to live in Amsterdam.
This would later connect her to Anne Frank’s story.
Then onto London to start her career and leave her mother and her political troubles behind.
Her first success was as a chorus girl in High Button Shoes.
Then MGM came to town and Audrey won a screen test. Her stardom began in 1953.
The amazing part is that like Gigi and Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady,
Hepburn’s story is a similar story of unexpected success at something she was aiming toward.
In an 1965 interview she says, “I can safely say that unlike others
I simply stumbled into movies. And from one thing to another.”
It was never a career she wanted, it was a career that came easily to her -
she had grown into an exotic face that responded to makeup and lighting.
“My success - still bewilders me.” And she was - a great success!

“Dutch Girl,” by Robert Matzen, traces the pre-teen and teenage years of actress Audrey Hepburn. She lived under German Nazi occupation in the Netherlands, and despite early fascist inclinations of her mother (who eventually switched sides away from the Nazis), Hepburn risked her young life to help the Dutch Resistance. This was a highly researched, yet easily readable, book that should interest persons who like reading about classic Hollywood, world history, or World War II specifically.

I received a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I will be honest. I love Audrey Hepburn. I love her glamour, her humanitarianism, her beauty, her style, her heart, her talent. But I did not like this book.

This book is about Audrey Hepburn's life during the World War II years, which was her adolescence. I loved the parts of this book that were about her. For example, she felt very close to Anne Frank after reading her diary years after the war ended; she even found an entry in it that mentioned the assassination of Audrey's uncle. I loved reading about her bravery when she helped an allied soldier find his way to safety and then told the Nazis who showed up that she was just out picking wildflowers. She was 15. I would have fainted on the spot but she outwitted literal Nazis.

However, this book needed more Audrey and less details about the war that didn't involve her. I was finding myself frustrated, alternately by that fact and the fact that I don't know if there really was a better way to write it because the reader really does need the historical context in order to understand Audrey's place in it.

I normally read fiction and lots of nonfiction doesn't pull me in. I found this book easy to pull you in. It was very informative and written well. I love how at the end the author went chapter by chapter explaining how the information was found. Overall a great book.

I was drawn to this book because I wanted to know more about Audrey Hepburn. Known mostly for the movies she starred in, Dutch Girl takes a look at another, much more personal of Audrey's life. I was very interested in the Foreword to this book which was written by Audrey's oldest son. I felt that this automatically gave it a very personal touch and I was moved by the way he talked about his mother.

I thought Dutch Girl would be about Audrey's roots and rise to stardom, but it is actually quite a humble story. Audrey and her family lived in Holland during World War II and she was a teenager at the time.

I knew nothing about her family, but here we learn that her mother was a great follower of Hitler and met him on more than one occasion. That made me feel uneasy but Audrey went for what she wanted in life and became a UNESCO ambassador and loved to help others. I was fascinated by the fact that she and Anne Frank were around the same age and was gripped by any part of the book mentioning diary entries, be that Audrey's mother's or Anne Frank's.

I have had a special interest in Anne Frank ever since I read The Diary of Anne Frank in my German class at school. It was so interesting seeing how their lives intertwined and overlapped.

The level of detail in this biography is impressive and extensive. I was interested in Audrey and her family but at times I felt distracted and overwhelmed by the pace at which so many different people were introduced so much so that it was hard to keep track of the characters and the plot at times.

Dutch Girl is a book to be cherished and I think it is a very unique biography given it is about Audrey and her family outside of Audrey's acting career. I would have loved to have discovered more bout that too and perhaps how the aspects of her past looked at in Dutch Girl shaped her decisions to become an actress and her experiences during her acting career.

However, I appreciate that the author wanted to show the world a different side of Audrey. The book is very heavy on historical facts and Nazi history yet is written in an accessible way. Overall, Dutch Girl is a good read for anyone interested in Audrey Hepburn. Having read it makes me want to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's again.

I love the cover of the book which I feel represents Audrey's true sense of style. And the title is mysterious enough to have made me want to find out more about Audrey. I'm glad I got the chance to review it and post for the blog tour. I am going to recommend this book.

Thanks to Robert Matzen for such a unique biography and to Smith Publicity for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

4 stars.

Audrey Hepburn was terrified. The teenage girl was returning from delivering a message to an Allied airman when she saw German soldiers coming towards her. She knew that she would not only be asked for her identity, but also what she was doing. This required fast thinking. Audrey started picking wildflowers, smiled sweetly at the soldiers, and told them that she was taking the flowers home.

This is just one of the many tales tells in this exciting, but extremely harrowing book about Audrey Hepburn’s time in the war. Although the star was quite a heroine, the war affected her so badly that she didn’t want to talk about it so she kept it mostly secret except from her sons. Also, her aristocratic mother was once a fan of Fascism and even met Hitler, misguided by her Irish husband, Audrey’s dissolute father. Her mother saw the light quite quickly, however, once the Nazis invaded Holland.

Although Audrey did manage to establish a fledgling ballet career during the war, she had a terrible time. Her beloved uncle was taken hostage and shot. She saw her older brother dragged to a Nazi camp and Jews taken away on the cattle trains. She lived in Velp near Arnhem and towards the end of the war, people were suffering from malnutrition, including Audrey herself. The war raged around them and they turned to despair when the Battle of Arnhem was lost. Audrey once said: ‘Don’t discount anything you see or hear about the Nazis’. She said that: ‘It was worse than you could ever imagine. She was once helped by UNICEF and never forgot it – this led to her becoming an ambassador for the organisation.

During this dreadful time, Audrey and her mother helped a doctor who worked for the Resistance, Audrey delivered a Resistance newspaper, and her family even hid an Allied airman! She also helped to raise funds for the Resistance.

This is a well-researched story which reads like a novel and might make people see the wonderful star in a different light. The only point that I would quibble at is that seems to give the impression that all of the Mitford sisters were pro-Nazi. Nancy was very much for the Allied cause and Jessica became a Communist and ran away to America.

I received this free ebook from Net Galley in return for an honest review.

Once again I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and impartially review.
Warning - Spoiler Alert
Though i have to confess it is quite difficult to review this excellent book without giving away spoilers for my fellow readers. Almost everyone knows Audrey Hepburn the famous film star, model and UNICEF Ambassador, but this story concentrates on her early years particularly 11 to 15 in War torn Netherlands. Her Mother and English Father were initially Nazi supporters, she wrote propaganda articles for British fascist magazines, and her Father was detained in prison during the war for his pro German beliefs. When war looked imminent her Mother recalled Audrey from school in England to the Netherlands as she believed that as in the First World War, the Germans would respect their neutrality, so Audrey the would be Ballet Dancer spent the majority of the War with her family in a small town not far from Arnhem. Yes that Arnhem of a Bridge to Far fame. This is the story of a brave compassionate girl who suffered the horrors of War at close quarters, the danger of imminent death from both sides, food shortages, and all while volunteering at the local hospital, and aiding the resistance where she could but so much more that i cannot reveal without further spoilers.
This is a fascinating meticulously researched book, well written and so descriptive you feel a part of the story that is as good a fiction.
Highly recommended.

A fascinating biography of Audrey Hepburn. From her birth to death her life was filled with adventure. Five years of Nazi occupation in the Netherlands, Arnhem's most famous ballerina and on to her work as an actress and a UNICEF ambassador. Audrey Hepburn exemplified one who rises above all troubles and is a wonderful example for everyone.

The biography of Audrey Hepburn was so dry and confusing with all her ancestors that I had to put the book down. I felt the emphasis on her relatives bogged the initial story down and then I lost interest

I was glad to read the Introduction by Audrey Hepburn’s son, giving the book - & author - his warm approval. So often biographies can seem unfair, written without the subject having a chance to correct anything. Add to that, this has been written in a very ‘readable’ style – again not always the case with biographies & histories – another plus point, before I had even read very far. This would have proved a fascinating story to read even if the subject was not a ‘celebrity’. In fact I have always admired Audrey Hepburn, since (unwittingly!) purchasing an oil painting of her when I was a teenager. Someone later told me they thought it was of her, in the lead role in ‘The Nun’s Story’. So then I had to buy the book – which I loved - & many years later finally saw the film. Many people have been struck – just as I was – on looking at the painting : it really ‘speaks’ to us. This is one very special lady, & this book allows us to understand some of what she went through to make her who she was. I also found this a most interesting read from a war history point of view : I have read a lot about the Second World War, & did see ‘A Bridge Too Far’ when it first came out, but really had no idea of what it was actually like to have lived through the experience. This book took me there, as if I had been a part of it. I don’t want to spoil the story for other potential readers, but I would say I can totally recommend it - & I will certainly be looking for the author’s other books...

I found this account of Audrey Hepburn's early years in Nazi occupied Netherlands riveting. It gives new depth to this actress that I have long admired. It balances the terrors of the war with her emerging love for dance and performance. Her family was not untouched by the brutality of war, but this taught the young Hepburn an appreciation of life that she carried with her beyond those difficult years. This book was well researched and a gripping read. I will definitely look for the companion titles about Jimmy Stewart and Carol Lombard and their war experiences.

If you're looking for a biography that delves into the glamour and glitz of being a world-acclaimed actress, this could be disappointing as very little of the content is dedicated to that side of Audrey Hepburn's life. However, those who want to read an absolutely fascinating account of the real life of Hepburn will find it here. Just as the events of the second world war were to fashion and permeate a large percentage of her life, we are led to feel the effects of the harrowing times that the child and teenager was to suffer.
Not only does this enlighten me as to what life must truly have been like for the frustrated young aspiring dancer, but it provided me with a deeper knowledge of what the Occupation meant for the Dutch citizens and just how terrifying those days must have been.
As Matzen states, Hepburn was a remarkable survivor and her later work with Unicef was further proof of this. There were obviously many sufferers and survivors from the second world war but somehow this account really reached out to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and GoodKnight Books for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have been a fan of Audrey Hepburn's movies since I was in high school. No matter what "level" of fan you are, this is great book for you to pick up.

It's great to learn about not only her personal history, but also about where she comes from familial wise.

A fascinating look into a part of Audrey Hepburn’s formative years during the war. Although the first 10% of the book got bogged down in nobility relationships, the rest was a wonderful insight into those years for Audrey Hepburn. Thank you for an advance reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I didn’t know much about Audrey Hepburn, aside from her movies. This was a fascinating work. It makes me want to learn more about the rest of her history. I am fascinated by this time period, but knew nothing about what happened in this area.

I so enjoyed this book and her story. I knew that she had experienced the war and it affected her but not to the extent of what I read. So much so many scared and then to live as long as she did and make a life for herself!! I will read the other books from this persn!!

All Audrey Hepburn fans this is it !
But don't expect to find this book.full of fab,Hollywood,glamour shots,This book is a down and dirty,telling all about her early life as a survivor of WWll.
She suffered starvation and deprivation along with her mother,mothers family.and the rest of the tightly knit Dutch community.
She did make it to Hollywood,after the war,but it wasn't her first choice,she wanted to be a ballet dancer.
She did many interviews,over the yrs.but,never answered any questions about the War or her private life,She considered those questions,off limits.
She retired from Hollywood,after 27 yrs.I'n the business to raise her two sons.She lived an enjoyable life,after all the glamour yrs.by keeping up with her gardening and the antics of her sons.
She died at the age of 63 due to stomach cancer.
I want to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review "Dutch Girl" by author Robert Matzen.