Review: The Audrey Hepburn Estate by Brenda Janowitz

The Audrey Hepburn Estate

by Brenda Janowitz

Release Date: April 18, 2023

2023 Graydon House

Kindle Edition; 368 Pages

ISBN: 978-1525811487

ASIN: B09!JCV1WX

Audiobook: B098QR24MP

Genre: Fiction / Historical / Romance

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

1.5 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

When Emma Jansen discovers that the grand Long Island estate where she grew up is set to be demolished, she can't help but return for one last visit. But once Emma arrives at the storied mansion, she can't ignore the more complicated memories. Because that's not exactly where Emma grew up. Her mother and father worked for the family that owned the estate, and they lived over the garage like Audrey Hepburn's character in the film Sabrina. 

And when the house reveals a shattering secret about her own family, she’ll have to decide what kind of life she really wants for herself now and who she wants to be in it.

 

My Thoughts

The Audrey Hepburn Estate is one of those books I thought I would like as I love Audrey Hepburn as well as the original Sabrina movie, but man, was this a difficult book to get through.  In hindsight, I should have just called it a day about halfway through as Emma, the main character, just grew more annoying as the book progressed and the plot was one hot mess.  I guess that teaches me to read a romance novel when I typically read thrillers, fantasy, and horror novels.

 

Unfortunately, no matter how much I tried, I just could not connect with the main character, Emma. I felt she had little character development as she still behaved exactly the same way she did at thirty that she did at eight years old.  Her decision-making skills just made me want to scream and I was constantly shaking my head at her choices. Personally, I couldn't care less which man she chose (as they had not personality either), but it was her reasoning behind it that bothered me to the nth degree.  Maybe I am being too tough on this character, but I am getting increasingly frustrated by authors who write female MC who are...pathetic. Of course we all make dumb choices in our lives, but Emma lives in a fairy-tale world, and because there is some supposed loose connection between this estate and Audrey Hepburn, we are supposed to accept her decisions based on this world? No way. Open your eyes and see what is in front of you. Also, get off your high horse and be gracious when someone does something nice for you. That one scene where Emma walks out on Henry when he takes her out for dinner, but it's not a high-end one so she takes it personally? I just wanted to slap her.  Yes, he did some stupid things as a teenager, but you are now ADULTS!!!

So, now we come to Henry and Leo.  I was supposed to root for Leo, I think? The author went out of her way to make us feel like Henry was the awful person when the whole time I was thinking, drop her ass Henry and find someone else.  And Leo has his own long-time girlfriend, someone who was supposedly really nice?  I should have counted to number of times I rolled my eyes. 

The plot was actually interesting in the beginning, but the execution deteriorated from about the twenty-five percent mark.  The timeline threw me off as well as Emma's father was supposedly a cook in a concentration camp so the math just didn't seem to work for me, especially as she mentioned technology that has only existed in the past ten years.  Using Emma's failed relationships with both men to propel the story was weak at best, and the way she treats these men as a grown-up, using what she suffered as a child as her excuse, was annoying to say the least.  There were so many themes that were left unexplored in this book, but to ignore Henry and Emma's relationship as teenagers, the exploration of that, was wrong on many levels.  

 

Verdict

The Audrey Hepburn House was disappointing, to say the least.  The title is deceptive as it has nothing to do with Audrey Hepburn other than inspiring a house from one her movies, Sabrina. Emma was such a weak character that I could not connect to her at all and I thought her behaviour was childish and immature.  She was taken advantage of by Henry as a teenager and I wish the author had explored that theme in this book rather than overlook it, but most themes went unexplored in this book and you were just supposed to accept that Emma wanted this fairy-tale world no matter her behaviour. Unfortunately, I struggled throughout this book, hoping it would get better, but it never did.