Mitchell Kriegman’s delightful novel had me with the first line, “It all started with that little black dress.” How well I remember the Givenchy LBD that Audrey Hepburn wore in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Sleeveless, unembellished and body skimming, it defined women’s fashion for decades.
I recall wearing my own Audrey-inspired little black dress to a party in Greenwich Village some years back. Most of the other female guests were in bright prints with cinched in waists and flared skirts that topped their knees. Heads turned when I walked into the room on stiletto heels. Did they approve or disapprove? I really didn’t care. For a short time, I was being Audrey Hepburn and thoroughly enjoying it.
Details of that long ago party have faded, but memories of my treasured Audrey dress remain. So when I read the opening paragraph of Mr. Kriegman’s book, which is set in the present day, I knew I was in for a joy ride down Memory Lane. And I was not disappointed.
The novel centers on a young New Jersey girl with a passion for all things Audrey. Raised in poverty by an alcohol-addicted mother, Lisbeth, the middle child in a fatherless family, is facing an unwelcome future as a nurse practitioner, a profession chosen by her mother. Lisbeth’s head is filled with dreams of rock stars, designer clothes, and a distant (albeit geographically close) fantasy world in Manhattan. Meanwhile, she is working at a local diner to help support her family.
Written in the first person from Lisbeth’s point of view, the book takes readers on an eye opening trip into the world of the fashionable, famous and infamous. It is not a roman a clef, since some of them are named. I enjoyed trying to identify those who were not. Made me wonder who the author hangs with and how can I can get invited to go with.
Early on in the book, reflecting on her encounter with THE DRESS, Lisbeth hints at the ‘unimaginable’ changes that were about to happen in her young life:
“… I wouldn’t have believed it. Not because I didn’t believe that Audrey’s dress was magical. Or that I didn’t believe in magic. I did, desperately.
“In fact, I saw magic around me all the time – in the lives of famous people I ogled in movies and magazines and online. But magic was for those people, not me. I just couldn’t imagine how magic could even find me sitting in the gray Jersey suburbs where I’d lived my whole life.”
Lisbeth’s ‘magic’ is definitely not the rabbit in the hat kind. Being Audrey Hepburn is a charming, entertaining story of pluck, luck, determination — and high fashion. It moves along as easily as Fred Astaire on a ballroom floor. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, which is billed as one for young adults. I disagree with the Young Adult pitch. If you’re looking for a novel that will hold your attention from page one, this is for you, no matter what your age.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mitchell Kriegman has an impressive lists of credits to his name, including film maker, screenwriter, TV writer, actor, producer and songwriter. He is the creator of the highly successful television show Clarissa Explains It All and has received numerous awards including the Director’s Guild Award, four Emmys and was twice nominated for a Writer’s Guild Award. He is currently professor of the MFA Writing and Literature Program at Stony Brook University.
Enjoy Being Audrey Hepburn now:
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Harriet Posnak Lesser is an award-winning journalist and social satirist whose articles have appeared in Long Island’s The South Shore Record and Nassau Herald, The New York Times, Cracked Magazine and others.