Intimate Audrey

An Authorized Biography

By: Sean Hepburn Ferrer, Wendy Holden

Narrated by: Sean Hepburn Ferrer, Paulie Rojas, Suzanne Toren, Robert Fass, Emma Ferrer, Sara Gordon, Irungu Mutu, Zoleka Vundla

The deeply personal official biography of Audrey Hepburn, full of untold stories, exclusive photos, and cherished memories from her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer, one of the people who knew her best.

To those who appreciate her work and legacy, Audrey Hepburn was many things. She was a child survivor of the Second World War. She was a fashion icon who made the little black dress the symbol of elegance that it is today. She played a runaway princess, an eccentric socialite, and a nun struggling with her faith. But perhaps her greatest contribution to the world was as a selfless humanitarian in the final years of her life, proving that fear and trauma can be transmuted into kindness and art.

For Sean Hepburn Ferrer, Audrey was also his mother. In Intimate Audrey, he candidly recounts how the shy “girl from across the landing” became the star we remember and love today. Featuring never-before-seen photographs and excerpts from her personal letters, this book is an intimate portrait of Audrey: as an icon, as a mother, and as an altruist who drew on her own experience of hunger and suffering to advocate fiercely for children in war-torn and famine-stricken countries.

Audrey shines in this moving portrait of a mother by her son; a lyrical ode to a visionary woman who continues to defy all expectations decades after her death.

Beautiful Biography

Beautifully written and told by Audrey Hepburn’s son. I don’t think I have ever read such a touching biography that makes you truly fall in love with someone you were already in love with. I learned so so much about this beautiful woman, and be prepared as it is not possible to stay dry-eyed at the end.

A life well lived after so much suffering

Loved the reading by her beautiful son Sean he brought her back to life for us.

Not for me, at least in audio form

I don't listen to many audiobooks and rarely leave reviews, but this one prompted me to make an exception.
I didn't manage to listen to the whole thing. I want to be upfront about that, because it's relevant context for everything that follows.
The author, Sean, narrates his own sections, which makes sense given the first-person framing — but his delivery wasn't engaging enough to hold my attention over a full listening experience.
Each chapter opens with a scene written in screenplay format, and in audio form this really doesn't work. The scenes were expository, with no real subtext or tension to make them interesting to listen to. The actress voicing Audrey over-played everything considerably, and the actress voicing Ella seemed uncertain which accent she was going for — oscillating between English and something approximating German, but never landing on Dutch. I understand a Dutch accent is a difficult one to pull off, but perhaps they should have hired a Dutch actress to play a Dutch woman.
One thing gave me pause regardless of format: at the beginning of chapter 11, a quote is attributed to Audrey — the "I'm possible" one. That quote has circulated online for years with no verified source connecting it to Hepburn. Hearing it treated as authentic in what's billed as an authorized biography co-authored by her own son was confusing and made me wonder about how rigorous the research for this book really was. I'm unsure if I'm going to attempt to read it, though I do think that experience would be better than the audiobook.

Awful on audible. Buy book instead.

The audible version of this book is creepy. Someone imitates Audrey’s voice, and, since she is dead, it takes away from the narrative. I am sorry I did not buy kindle version as I admire Audrey Hepburn and wanted to know more about her early life. I just could not keep listening to this book, which is rare for me.