I've always thought it unfair that Audrey Hepburn is mostly remembered for being extremely pretty in films when the work she did as a UNICEF ambassador changed and saved lives. Having all she went through to ensure that people didn't just sweep children's suffering under the rug and pretended it wasn't happening simply because it was in impoverished countries has been inspiring. But I never really knew the whole story of everything she did, experienced, and sacrificed to achieve what she did.
This book is both fantastic and heartbreaking. The beautiful, honest writing by Matzen is both the reason I admire it and that it took me 6 months to read it. It is a no-holds-barred retelling of the highs and lows of each campaign and all the work Hepburn and the people at UNICEF did. It paints a vivid picture of entire communities decimated by war and famine. It is both the good and hope in people doing their best to bring aid and the horrors of that aid not being enough or getting there in time. And through it all, a slight wisp of a woman with more will and determination than an entire battalion walking into Hell in hopes of being able to give those suffering a voice.
It is not an easy read. I continually had to walk away from it just from how well Matzen places the reader right next to Hepburn as she walks through starving villages and war-torn cities. It hits hard and keeps on hitting even when the chapters are about things that happened in Hepburn's life outside of her work for UNICEF.
Even with that, I very highly recommend giving this one a read to see what true strength of character is and how one person lending their voice to a cause can change the world.


Happy thanks to NetGalley and GoodKnight Books for the eye-opening read!