Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
Book Review: Engrossing, Entertaining Memoir!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the most interesting, well-written memoirs I have had the pleasure to read. In spite of all of the sometimes sordid incidents in her early life, Julie Andrews writes with wit, and provides fascinating details of life in WWII and post war England.
The book really never fails to keep your interest, the photos are marvelous, and I enthusiastically recommend this as the best memoir of recent years.
Book Review: Loverly!
Summary: 5 Stars
What a great read! I could hear Julie's voice as I read each word. I anxiously await Part II, where she will hopefully talk about Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, Hawaii, Victor/Victoria and more. You can actually hear Julie sing the Polonaise when she was 12 years old - go to YouTube and look up Julie Andrews Polonaise.
Book Review: Great Book...
Summary: 4 Stars
A great book that I could not put down unless I was watching Sound of Music. I guess that's a dead giveaway that I am a fan. A very candid view of her youth which doesn't disguise the opportunities that she was afforded when she was young.
My grandfather who was from England went to Austria in 1960 always retells the story that while he was on vacation that the Sound of Music was being filmed. I guess Julie Andrews was making quite a stir not only with her fantastic talents but also her vices. The locals mentioned that she swore like a sailor, drank excessively and smoked like a chimney. I always thought my grandfather embellished his story a bit but after reading her Memoir it is consistent with his story.
Book Review: Julie Is Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious!
Summary: 5 Stars
Julie Andrews represents everything good in my childhood, and it's reassuring to know that she has persevered through her own difficult childhood to become a role model for the rest of us. This is one of the best written autobiographies I've ever read. Book Review: Practically perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
"Home" was the first word that toddler Julia Wells -- soon to become Julie Andrews -- spoke. Though it was denied her as a young girl, a normal home life was important to Andrews from the beginning.
The embodiment of a class act, Julie Andrews tells the story of her impoverished upbringing in London with grace and candor. She recounts what must be painful memories in a straightforward way, never whining or asking for pity. She holds nothing back.
Stories of her alcoholic stepfather -- and his obvious efforts to molest her -- left me shaken. When she was 9, he insists he show her "how I cuddle with Mummy." At 16, he shows up in her bedroom and demands that he "really must teach you to kiss properly." Her uncle installs a padlock on her bedroom door. Julie's two younger brothers are regularly beaten and abused. When her 3-year-old brother has a potty-training accident, the stepdad rubs the little boy's nose in it.
Andrews began performing to support the family while still very young. She tells fascinating stories of learning to sing properly and working the shabby vaudeville circuit. The result of her first screen test? "She's not photogenic enough for film." To combat the stress the 12-year-old would go to a nearby cinema to watch Mickey Mouse cartoons between her two performances of the night.
The fact that Cinderella is her door out is almost too perfect. Later, when Walt Disney picked her to play Mary Poppins, she gets a whirlwind tour of Disneyland by Walt himself, riding the Jungle Cruise and seeing the Swiss Family Treehouse. "Mary Poppins" author P. L. Travers even calls her, complaining: "Well, you're much too pretty, of course. But you've got the nose for it!"
The memoir ends there, with Andrews on the cusp of real stardom.