Audrey Hepburn captivates audiences whether she appears on the silver screen or on the written page. Robert Matzen’s book about Hepburn’s survival during the Nazi’s occupation of the Netherlands is no exception. Although some chapters have minor defects in the writing style, e.g. use of the word “which” when “that” would have been better, and the occasional use of vague descriptors such as “mercurial” or “boom” when examples would have provided a clearer picture of the person or the scene, the writing somehow works. The book is entirely well-researched. Matzen walked where Hepburn walked, read diaries of those sharing Hepburn’s experiences, and combed through archives, interviews, and news articles. Reading even the list of source materials at the end of the book was interesting. Hepburn’s resilience, poise, and advocacy for a world where children do not face the horrors of war that she faced ended far too soon.

Thank you to Hepburn’s sons for sharing their amazing mother with us, and thank you to the author, the publisher, and to Netgalley for sharing an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

You may think you know Hollywood superstar Audrey Hepburn, but this biography is of her early life, about growing up during World War II and the role that living through World War II had over the entire rest of her life.
Ms. Hepburn didn’t like talking about that time, and frankly, who can blame her. She lived through a horrific time in our history. Her father was accused of being a spy and arrested, her mother loved Hitler, meeting him numerous times and also writing about him for a fascist magazine, and her beloved uncle was killed by the Germans. Living under German occupation, she was subjected to bombings by Allied Forces and starvation. She and her family camped out in the cellar, hoping for survival. To go from that type of situation to reigning Hollywood royalty a few years later took a lot of determination and courage. This book is in-depth and detailed, definitely worth the read if you like biographies. You’ll learn a lot of information about Ms. Hepburn and become even more of a fan than you already are. At least I did. A very thought provoking and moving account of a young lady who would become a goddess of the silver screen.

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “Dutch Girl” “Audrey Hepburn and World War 11” by Robert Matzen, April 15, 2019

Robert Matzen , Author of “Dutch Girl”; Audrey Hepburn and World War 11″ has written an intriguing and intense biography with tremendous historical background on the life and times of Audrey Hepburn. Most of this centers around the 5 year period that the Nazis occupied The Netherlands. At that time Audrey lived with her mother and family in the Netherlands.

When I decided to read this book, I thought I would be reading more of Audrey Hepburn’s life , and it turns out I read about her Mother’s life. some of her father’s life and her family life, and much information about Germany and World War Two. I would have preferred to read more about Audrey Hepburn’s life.

The information provided by the author was interesting. Audrey had gone to school in England, and did speak English. She treasured dancing, and always wanted to be a ballerina. The five years of German occupation was traumatic and deadly for the Dutch people. Audrey did help as much as she could, and emotionally had the scars from this tragic timeline.

I appreciate that the author describes Audrey as a sympathetic and empathetic person who wants to do good in this world. I would recommend this book for readers who enjoy reading about World War 11 and German History.

A fascinating recounting of Ms Hepburns wartime experience along with her family's history. A wonderful depiction of life in Holland under the Nazi's and how it affected the famous movie star.

When I saw Dutch Girl on NetGalley, a book about Audrey Hepburn’s years in Holland/the Netherlands during WWII, I was intrigued by the idea of a different perspective on the war, and on Audrey Hepburn. Having read one or two biographies on her before, I knew the war years are generally skimmed over: born in Belgium, moved to Holland, danced ballet, lived in Velp during the war...The reason for that is there just isn’t that much information available, especially since Hepburn herself hardly ever talked about the war. I had hoped Robert Matzen had been able to find new sources of information, especially since he had gotten the blessing of Hepburn’s sons, but that was not the case.

I was looking to get a new perspective on Audrey Hepburn; if the first years of a person are formative, then an experience of having grown up during WWII in the middle of the fighting must have molded Audrey Hepburn in the person she was. The war certainly formed her, and while Dutch Girl certainly makes a valiant effort, this book does not nearly enough to show us how and why.

I enjoyed reading this book, but not as a biography on Audrey Hepburn, but as a history of what life was like during WWII in occupied Holland. The book starts of well, detailing the life of her mother and father and their dealings with the Nazis during the thirties, but as the story moves along it seems details and information becomes less and less available and the author has to rely on, not so much Audrey Hepburn’s story, as the lives of the people around her and the events happening in the war.

There just isn’t that much information available on this subject, as the author says himself, and some of the embellishments make the book come across as creative nonfiction in certain parts (also acknowledged in the notes by the author that certain thoughts and actions ascribed to Hepburn in the book are what he assumes to be the case based on his research). Hepburn never wrote a diary like Anne Frank did, another major character in the book and an indirect influence on Hepburn’s life.

There is quite a bit of repetition and pointless filler, with a few crumbs of Audrey Hepburn thrown in which does make the book worthwhile. The story of her uncle drives home the ruthlessness of the Nazis, while the small acts of kindness such as Hepburn helping out at the hospital or teaching ballet to the local children, show the resilient spirit of the Dutch.

Parts of the story come across as contrived, and the beginning of each new chapter starts with a description of Hepburn’s later life and how it seems the war influenced her at that point. This doesn’t really work for me, as there is never any real, hard evidence that was how Hepburn really felt. She hardly ever talked about the war, and she was an intensely private person. One other thing which consistently interrupted the flow of the story: the use of Dutch words where it was totally unnecessary. I understand Dutch and it bothered me, so I can only imagine not knowing the language, how annoying it must be to read sentences such as: “the assembled gijzelaars, or hostages,” and “there was a hint of autumn - herfst as the Dutch called it.”

All in all a good read, as long as you start reading with the knowledge that you won’t learn as much about Audrey Hepburn as the title makes you think you will.

It's an interesting idea, telling the story of part of World War II from the point of view of someone who was growing up in occupied Holland during the War. When the person in question is Audrey Hepburn, it's even more interesting.

Hepburn was 11 when her country was overrun by the Nazis and 16 when it was liberated. During the War she lived first in Arnhem and then in a village outside it. She witnessed first-hand Market Garden, lived in her family's cellar for months, suffered malnutrition, and helped the Dutch Resistance. Her story and the story of the country during the war is compelling and Matzen makes it interesting and moving.


His meticulous research not only makes the book a great addition to history, it also sets the record straight on her activities and those of her family during the War. It's something virtually all other biographers have gotten wrong.

There is a lot to like about this book. The subject, for one -- I mean, Audrey Hepburn! And the approach: Author Robert Matzen has written eight books, Dutch Girl being the third in a trilogy on well-known actors and World War II.

There's no question that the book was exhaustively researched. There is so much information that was new to me about Hepburn's aristocratic family and their role in the fight against fascism (or, in some cases, for it.)

Still, despite intriguing material and meticulous cross-referencing, the book was hard to read. Occasionally the alternating timelines got in the way. More often, reading Dutch Girl reminded me of what I dislike about televised true crime shows, where snippets of dialogue or graphic images are repeated so often that it feels like 15 minutes of content were "crammed into" a 43-minute (plus commercials) production.

Dutch Girl had lots of repetition and a good bit of rambling. It felt as if the author felt he had to honor his (undeniably good) material by casting and recasting it in a different setting.

This book is worth reading, and much of it is memorable. It simply cried out for a rigorous edit. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance readers copy.

This story was very interesting and I actually learnt so much about WWII from the Dutch perspective. I also never realised the parallels between Audrey's & Anne Frank stories either.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.

This book is amazing!! I read it in 2 days and totally loved it!! Robert's research is perfect!! If you are a fan of Audrey Hepburn -- this book is definitely for you!! If you aren't sure -- read this book!! My respect for Audrey has increased tenfold and I'm so thrilled that I was able to read it!! Even if you aren't a fan of Audrey's and you are just a history buff - I think you will still get so much out of this book.

Another fascinating book by Robert Matzen, unfortunately the last in his WWII Trilogy. 'Dutch Girl' covers the five years Audrey Hepburn spent in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. The book is both a gripping history lesson as well as providing Hepburn-fans with a background about her youth and her family, with her mother being a Nazi-sympathizer early on.
Like with Jimmy Stewart (covered in Matzen's 'Mission'), you really fear for her well-being although of course you know she survived all right. Bombs, machine guns, starvation - Hepburn lived the life a lot of Europeans had to endure during WWII.
One of those books you race through, I enjoyed it not quite as much as 'Fireball' about Carole Lombard but this would have been a tall order. All three books by Matzen rank very, very high among my vast collection of film books. Highly recommended!

Opening line:
"Baroness Ella van Heemstra stood in the office of Adolph Hitler and offered her hand to the most famous man in the world, the man whose name was on simply everyone's lips."

I thought this was a fascinating read! I'd like to read more books from this author about stars and their war years.
Audrey was in the Netherlands when the Germans invaded. The people naively thought that they would be left alone, just like during WWI. They were terrifyingly wrong.
Most of the book is a history lesson about the era, with Audrey's history fleshed out amidst the facts. Her story is incredible; how she survived is a miracle. Ironically, during the same time frame, a young Jewish girl, Audrey's age, lived not too far away in a hidden part of a building. Anne Frank died in a concentration camp and her diary affected Audrey deeply. Anne's father, Otto, begged Audrey to portray his daughter in the movie, but Audrey couldn't. The pain of practically living through the war again was too hard.

I want to watch all of Audrey's movies now! I'm fascinated by this quiet, shy, compassionate woman who loved children and volunteered for UNICEF because of her years during the war. I would have liked to have met Audrey Hepburn. I've always thought she was so beautiful and graceful.

One of my favorite quotes was from her son:

"How lucky my brother and I were growing up with a present and love mother as opposed to a glamorous but absent movie star. When mother talked about herself and what life taught her, Hollywood was indeed the missing guest.

Thanks to netgalley for the early read!

This is a really enjoyable and well researched book about both Audrey Hepburn's life and also about the occupation of Nazi's. I really enjoyed this novel and learning more about Audrey's life. I will definitely be recommending this book to my friends and world war 2 history buffs!

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, but the author's obvious high regard for Audrey is apparent with every description and episode, imbuing all with a great deal of affection. Her mother's history was remarkable, being enraptured by Hitler, even meeting him in 1935 and being a believer until some time into the occupation. Later in life during interviews as an adult, Audrey didn't talk about this aspect of her family history. In fact, she sublimated a lot of the horror and deprivation and tamped it down inside. That changed in 1946 when she first came across Anne Frank's diary. The similarities she and Anne shared went straight to her heart, and provided her with what became her most important mission later in life, that of the protection and welfare of children via UNICEF. The reader thus comes away with a deeper understanding of why Hepburn projected such empathy especially for children,

However, I found the book on the whole to be quite repetitious in parts and much more of a history than a biography.

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 is non-fiction, I was surprised at the assumptions Mr. Matzen made about what people were thinking, especially at moments right before they died and had no way to let others know. That sounds more like historical fiction than non-fiction. Another issue I had with the book was the writing style that many times felt immature and too casual for the topic. "Then came more good news. Food!" This doesn't sound appropriate when you are discussing people who have survived the Hunger Winter. I have other examples, but I hope only one is needed. The vast swings from casual story telling to in depth details about only tangentially related events (or events not even related other than they took place during the War), did nothing to improve my impression of the book. Either the book should be edited to about 40% of what it is now and truly focus on Ms. Hepburn, or it should be renamed something that does not imply Ms. Hepburn is the central theme. I debated giving this book 1 star; however, despite my disappointment with the book, it was very informative and I always like learning new things. I just expected to learn things about Audrey Hepburn not the entire history of the Netherlands.

Tells of the real Audrey Hepburn and of her Dutch name Adriaantje rather than the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.

She was a very private person and wanted to forget the war and ‘do good’ in her life. Her true love was dancing and that is what got her through the war.

Historically interesting giving an overall background of what life was like. Learn about battles that weren’t famous but were a big part of winning the war for different parts of Europe.

Dutch Girl is an emotional book about Audrey Hepburn and her experiences during WWII. It tells about war in a more personal way, as books related to war often is more about mechanics and abstract concepts.

This book deals mainly with Audrey Hepburn's experiences during World War 2 in her native Holland. I love reading World War 2 history, biographies and Hollywood accounts so I expected to love this book and to race through it. The research is very well done and the book deals mainly with actual historical events that did occur such as the battle of Arnhem, the liberations the hostage taking and subsequent murders of Dutch prominent figures as reprisals for sabotage. The book also details the hunger that the Dutch endured towards the end of the war. I enjoyed reading this however I found it difficult to race through the book as I normally do with stories like this. The author I felt made a lot of presumptions on how Audrey perceived events and on how they impacted on her. Also the story felt stretched in places and I found myself skipping sections as I felt I had already read enough to get the gist of what the author was trying to convey. Audreys son Luca writes the foreword and praises the author for his work. I was left with a feeling that the son is looking for answers as to what troubled his mother and that WW2 has been settled upon to answer his questions. There were also comparisons drawn with Anne Frank' sufferings and Audreys which didn't seem appropriate to me.
Having said all that for the research, the look at Dutch history during WW2 through an iconic figure such as Audrey and the account of Audreys very interesting family I give this book 3 stars .

Dutch Girl is really two stories that are related but only occasionally intertwined: the story of Arnhem, Netherlands, during World War Two and the story of young Audrey Hepburn. When the two stories meet, it’s fascinating—Audrey’s secretly dancing in basements to help raise money for the Dutch Resistance, Audrey’s mother’s support for Adolf Hitler, and the death of Audrey’s uncle, a hostage, at the hands of Nazis being mentioned in the Diary of Anne Frank. Very very interesting! I really loved the photographs included in the book (though they are not as easy to appreciate in ebook format). I love Audrey Hepburn because she seemed like such a kind and humble person. I enjoyed learning more about her childhood and the hardships she faced.

I am an avid fan of Audrey Hepburn films and also of WWII novels, somehow these two subjects fit perfectly into a book. I recently have started to get into WWII from the perspective of other countries rather than what I was just taught in school. The Germans invaded so much of Europe, so much destruction was had through so many lives. I was surprised to learn that Audrey Hepburn had lived what I can not fathom. It truly is a great family historical book and the letter from her son in the beginning showed what kind of heart Audrey had. She is a remarkable woman.

I am a history buff and love old Hollywood, so I enjoyed this book. The research that was done to put this book together was extensive. It is very detailed and so very interesting. Audrey Hepburn was shaped by the events of her childhood and WWII. As a teen in German occupied Netherlands, she learns the greatest of life lessons that she carries with her throughout her life. As her son points out in the foreword, this is the Audrey Hepburn he knew growing up. She lived with this as her guide rather than allowing Hollywood to change her.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I will definitely suggest this to friends and family.