Warrior: Audrey Hepburn

Known for her iconic roles in popular films and her signature grace and style, Audrey Hepburn is a household name. But while she is known for her movie roles and iconic fashion sense on the Red Carpet, what has always stood out for me was her dedicated work for UNICEF to help the world's most at-risk children. 

Warrior is an inspirational biography of this iconic actress turned humanitarian that gives readers an unbelievable amount of depth into the life of Ms. Hepburn. I enjoyed learning about her Dutch heritage and early life living in The Netherlands during WWII (and the fact that she is not related to Katherine Hepburn which was news to me). When she passed away in 1993, the world lost a talented woman and a crusader for the world's most poverty-stricken children.

Audrey Hepburn lived a fascinating life, but I didn't enjoy the way Robert Matzen tells her story. His writing is repetitive and regularly gets bogged down in the minutiae of her life and her many UNICEF trips. This made Warrior read less like a biography and more like a textbook or encyclopedia entry for this star and humanitarian. By the halfway mark I had had enough and skimmed the last half of the book.

I have great respect for Audrey Hepburn and the legacies she has left the world. My feelings about how Robert Matzen tells Hepburn's story are, in no way, meant to diminish her work in Hollywood or her life beyond the glitz and the glamour where she made her biggest impact in her tireless work to help the world's underprivileged and most vulnerable children.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Robert Matzen

Genre: Biography, Celebrity Biography

Type and Source: eBook from publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: GoodKnight Books

First Published: Sept 28, 2021

Opening Lines: I believe Audrey would not be happy with the 

state of the world these days because so little has changed.

Book Description from GoodReads: Warrior: Audrey Hepburn completes the story arc of Robert Matzen's Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II. Hepburn's experiences in wartime, including the murder of family members, her survival through combat and starvation conditions, and work on behalf of the Dutch Resistance, gave her the determination to become a humanitarian for UNICEF and the fearlessness to charge into war-torn countries in the Third World on behalf of children and their mothers in desperate need. She set the standard for celebrity humanitarians and--according to her son Luca Dotti--ultimately gave her life for the causes she epoused.