Mirror Books lands story of Audrey Hepburn's secret resistance past

Mirror Books has landed the “extraordinary” true story of Audrey Hepburn and her time as a resistance fighter during the Second World War, written by Robert Matzen.

Rights were acquired for Dutch Girl by senior commissioning editor Ajda Vucicevic from Jennifer Helinek at Trident Media. It is released on 5th November.

The focuses on Hepburn's secret past as a resistance fighter who helped bring down the Nazis, and includes a foreword by her son, Luca Dotti.

Its synopsis explains: “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. 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.”

Vucicevic said: “I am extremely excited to bring this chapter of Audrey's extraordinary life to our readers. Wonderfully researched and told, the book is a riveting read, a must for all her fans.”

Matzen added: "Audrey spent three critical years of her life in a UK boarding school just before the war, and then witnessed the battle of Arnhem when British First Airborne tried to take 'a bridge too far.' She had such a soft spot for those guys, the 'Tommies' or 'liberators,' as the Dutch still call them. After the war she danced in London and established her career in British television and motion pictures. For these reasons I'm excited that Mirror Books is releasing a UK edition of Dutch Girl--the UK is sewn into her story."