The story of Liesl Herbst, as told by her granddaughter Felice Hardy in this family memoir, is one that is at times compelling, at times inspiring but for the most part tragic. Liesl came from a Jewish family in Vienna with some wealth – but being Jewish in a country so close to Germany, there were rumblings of trouble when the Nazis rose to power. Before this however, Liesl wanted to channel her athletic talent into tennis and follow her idol, Suzanne Lenglen into the sport.

Through extensive research (by herself and other researchers in Austria and Czechoslovakia), Hardy is able to not only find out about her grandmother’s tennis career but is also able to describe in great detail about the escape from Austria that Liesl and her daughter Dorli (Hardy’s mother) were able to accomplish and settle in London. Because Liesl was a former tennis champion in Austria, she wanted to compete again and was able to do so at Wimbledon. She and Dorli became the only mother/daughter team to compete at Wimbledon and while they may not have advanced far in the tournament, it was a testament to their athletic ability and their determination in both athletics and survival.

However, this book is not all positive. The rest of the family members did not escape the Nazis and all perished at various points during their imprisonment. These passages, which were more of the book than Liesl’s tennis accomplishments, were difficult to read, but really were necessary for both the reader and the author. Hardy should be commended for remembering all members of her family, not just her famous grandmother.

There are many conversations that are quoted in the book and given the time frame and lack of ability to verify these from survivors, one must consider these as conversations that Hardy believed these people would have had when either making their escapes or being captured. The journey of David, Liesl’s husband, to London after sending his wife and daughter there almost reads like a survivalist story. While this is not to question any of the authenticity of this and other similar accounts, it does appear that some of this is what Hardy believes her family members did and said. However, that doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the book. It is one that is a very good read and while tennis is a part of the story, the takeaway after reading is how much suffering people endured at the hands of the Nazi party during the Holocaust.

I was provided a review copy via NetGalleyand the opinions expressed are strictly my own.

Felice Hardy researches her family and her famous grandmother, Austrian tennis champion Liesl Herbst in this moving and emotional book. Not only is this a work of persistence to uncover her family's history but a work of love to show how the events of WWII shaped these people. Thinking this book would have more about tennis, it does not but it does provide how important sports were at this time. It shows the hard work of Liesel in working toward her dream of playing at Wimbledon and how she achieves that goal.

Wonderfully written and true in content the reader is swept into this unbelieve family story. Would there be a different ending if they had not been affected by the war? A heart wrenching read full of emotion, a real glimpse into a family affected by war. Highly recommend.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine


I was so intrigued by the write up

Oh my word, what a wonderfully researched and written book

I was so engrossed and learnt so much

An absolute must read from me

Felice Hardy brings her grandparents’ story to life in her biography about Liesl and David Herbst. Their daughter Dorli’s eldest daughter, Hardy brings the sensitive nature of the Holocaust and the Nazi takeover of eastern Europe to life in this creatively worded biography. Following her grandparents’ lives before and after they meet, Hardy provides a sense of closure by ending with her retelling of their lives after safely arriving in the United Kingdom until their deaths. Hardy focuses on their love of sports, particularly her grandmother Liesl’s prolific and celebrated Austrian and international tennis career, throughout the book. This book is ultimately a celebration of love and survival, though Hardy does not shy away from the harder topics (PTSD’s impact on those who survived the Holocaust and their parenting, troubled relationships, etc.) she has to address and handles them in a delicate, appropriate way (while not shying away from the darkness and complications of the topics. Hardy’s biography presents a well-known piece of history from a unique perspective, while her creative style of biography-writing adds a fun twist to the genre. Hardy has done her grandparents’ story justice in this book, a fascinating, tragic (at times), and engrossing biography of the twentieth century.

A very interesting book. I’m a huge tennis fan and had never heard this story before. I enjoyed every page. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this early read.

There is no doubt that the events and retelling of Liesl Herbst's family tragedy was a difficult read. It is clear Felice Hardy dug deep into the research and was able to tell the horrific events that transpired the past century in her family.
I was compelled to pick up the title based off the title and picture of a young girl and the mention of Wimbledon. However, very little actually related back to tennis.
I have read many historical fiction accounts of WW1 and WW2, this was strictly non fiction so there was a heavy amount of information which at times was very hard to read.
I am amazed at how Hardy was able to create such a interesting read, but I finished the book feeling so overwhelmed with sadness for this family.
One thing that made this different from other books I have read on this subject is the after math affects of the Holocaust. Often we do not hear about the lingering effects this had on first, second and third generation survivors.
I really aprpeciate Hardy's deep dive into her family's past, the strength and resliiancey her family showed is outstanding.
Thank you Net Galley for this advanced copy read of THe Tennis Champion Who Escaped the Nazis. I was not influenced or paid for this honest review.

I read Diary of Anne Frank at school as a child and loved it. I have just finished The tennis champion which I thoroughly enjoyed..it was very nostalgic. Gave recently returned to playing tennis which made it even more enjoyable.

Liesl Herbst: The Tennis Champion Who Escaped the Nazis, by Felice Hardy

Thank you to Ad Lib Publishers and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy.

This is an absorbing story of a Jewish family’s escape from Austria to England, in the early days of World War II. It is written by Liesl Herbst’s granddaughter, to reclaim a history lost to the family because of silence and sadness.

Liesl and David Herbst and their only daughter, Dorli (the author’s mother), lived a comfortable life in Vienna in the 20’s and 30’s. In her ‘20’s, after having her daughter, Liesl took up tennis and, working on stamina and strength, became a champion of Austria and competed through Europe. The family was only nominally Jewish – though David’s father was religious, Liesl’s had no knowledge of Jewish traditions and practice.

Despite this, of course, as Jews they still suffered the fate of their more observant co-religionists. Partly because of Liesl’s tennis reputation, she and Dorli were able to leave Vienna for England; David went into hiding and months later joined them in England after a harrowing escape through Poland.

Most of the book follows Liesl’s formerly wealthy and assimilated mother and two sisters as they remain in Austria and Slovakia. No one survives. And the lost family is never talked about by Hardy’s grandparents or her mother.
Hardy is herself an experienced travel writer, and on a trip to Vienna, lighting a candle in a cathedral, she senses a presence behind her and thinks she hears her grandmother’s voice whisper, “Thank you for remembering us.” And so begins her quest to learn all she can about the family she never knew.

Hiring researchers in Austria and Czechoslovakia, visiting the places her family lived and died, Hardy pieces together a detailed description of their lives and deaths.

It is the detail that is problematic. The author introduces the book by saying that through “research in four countries, I recovered and rebuilt the fabric of their lives. I … subsequently enhanced period details and added contemporary dialogue in order to bring them to life… I also added facts that the character could not have known at the time…”
This means that Hardy gives feelings, thoughts, and actual words to her phantom family. What seemed to be a search for information becomes a fantasy of imagined events and conversations that no one, except the individuals themselves, could possibly have known.

Thus, this book turns into a story, rather than a biography, and while as a story it fits well with others of families destroyed by the Holocaust, as a history it is questionable. Hardy wrote it to explore her own identity and leave a record for her children, nieces, and nephews. Hopefully she succeeded in this, but it is as a story of a terrible time and place that this book may be of interest to other readers.

I absolutely loved reading this book. I was completely drawn into the topic and could not stop reading it.

Felice Hardy does a phenomenal job researching and sharing her family's plight during the Holocaust. Her grandmother, Liesl Herbst, was a tennis pro living in Vienna when Germany invaded Austria. Hardy shares that ethnic cleansing shredded the fabric of their lives and religious observations and rituals were placed in the attic. After that point, the family became agnostic and future generations were raised agnostic.

Character development, scene imagery, dialogue, and story arc are fantastic! Highly recommend!