Name: DUTCH GIRL
ISBN: 9781913406202

ROBERT. MATZEN

Audrey Hepburn and World War Ii

DUTCH GIRL

Robert Matzen

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 her son, Luca Dotti, "The war made my mother who she was." Audrey Hepburn's war included participation in the Dutch Resistance, working as a doctor's assistant during the "Bridge Too Far" battle of Arnhem, the brutal execution of her uncle, and the ordeal of the Hunger Winter of 1944. She also had to contend with the fact that her father was a Nazi agent and her mother was pro-Nazi for the first two years of the occupation. But the war years also brought triumphs as Audrey became Arnhem's most famous young ballerina. Audrey's own reminiscences, new interviews with people who knew her in the war, wartime diaries, and research in classified Dutch archives shed light on the riveting, untold story of Audrey Hepburn under fire in World War II. Also included is a section of color and black-and-white photos. Many of these images are from Audrey's personal collection and are published here for the first time.

Audrey Hepburn and World War II

Dutch Girl

I adore Audrey Hepburn. My only reason for not giving this a 5 star is that I wish it had focused a little more on her life overall and not so specifically on the war. Some parts didn't even really feel like they were about Audrey at all, because the focus was so much on the complicated family line, which to me is only partly relevant to who a person is. Idk if I really got a great sense of her as a person, though I did find it very fascinating and heartbreaking what she went through

Emma Lechner

Swasti Ramadhin

Books that are well researched and tell the story with feeling are an absolute joy to read. That has definitely been the case with Dutch Girl. Speaking Dutch myself, it was fun to read the words and place names written in Dutch and that had to be translated for non-Dutch readers. 
The writer explained vividly how life was like in the Netherlands during WW2. I saw some reviewers complain that the book focused more on other aspects rather than Audrey. I don't agree with that at all. We get to know the real Audrey and what made her who she was. The author made sure of that. And we can only understand what Audrey went though by knowing what exactly happened during the war. We needed to know the people she herself knew and who meant a great deal to her, the places she knew and grew up in that don't exist anymore because of bombings. We need to know all that if we truly want to know Audrey and understand what it all meant for as a teenager growing up during the war. 
It was heartbreaking to read what the Dutch people went through throughout those years and I am happy that the author was so thorough. This is why I enjoy reading books like this. To learn. Not only about the person who the book is about, but also about history.

Sharon Steinman

I 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.

Monirah

A review long overdo.

Matzen has certainly done his research. Dutch Girl is a history lesson on WII according to how Audrey Hepburn had experienced it. There is more of an emphasis on the local events that happened during WWII around Audrey, which then give a better context to all her known descriptions of her life during that period. 

Prepare to be swept into the experiences felt in the Netherlands during WWII: the hunger; the sound of windows shattering; shells unloading in the distance (and, at times, nearby); hope one moment, and fear the next. And, once the war is over, all that must be done in setting the record straight as to one’s past involvement with the nazis. 

Matzen then ends on a happy and motivating note of how Audrey restarted her pursuit of her ballet dreams, and then her subsequent “stumble” into films.

“I’ve been constantly in situations in my life and career where I’ve had no technique, but if you just feel enough, you will get away with murder.”

DUTCH GIRL Audrey Hepburn and World War Ii

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