Intimate Audrey

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.

Sean Hepburn Ferrer was born in Bürgenstock, Lucerne, Switzerland on July 17, 1960, to Audrey Kathleen Hepburn-Ferrer and Melchor Gaston Ferrer. For 40 years, Sean has worked in every aspect of the Entertainment industry and a series of nonprofits dedicated to continuing his mother's humanitarian legacy as a UNICEF ambassador. He is the author of the New York Times best seller Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit. Sean, together with his wife Karin with whom he not only shares his life but also his day-to-day business, distilled Audrey's rich life into this essential story in Little Audrey's Daydream. They split their time between Florence, Italy, and Spain. They five respective children are all grown. Wendy Holden is a former war correspondent who has written dozens of biographies, memoirs, and a few novels, many of them bestsellers. She co-wrote Goldie Hawn's memoir (A Lotus Grows in the Mud), Barbara Sinatra's memoir (Lady Blue Eyes), and Patricia Gucci's memoir (In the Name of Gucci), among many others. She also wrote the international bestseller Born Survivors, which tells the true story of three young mothers who hid their pregnancies from the Nazis, and The Teacher of Auschwitz, her latest novel based upon a true character, which has brought readers around the world to tears.