Home: A Memoir of My Early Years

I enjoyed this one but couldn’t give it 5 stars. It gave a wonderful insight into the life of Julie Andrews from early years through to the birth of her daughter Emma. It felt disjointed at times which was a bit of a struggle for me but as I write this I realize that can be due to the trauma and hardships faced. I enjoy books with a good flow and more cohesiveness. The info was worth it though and I’ll be reading another memoir of hers in the near future.

I listened to Julie Andrews' first memoir on audio, which was an utterly delightful experience. The book recounts her life from childhood (with some family history included in the early chapters) through to her departure for California to begin work on Mary Poppins. Her life is a fascinating one and the book includes memories of being in or near London during the Blitz, her time as a child vaudeville performer, and her eventual transition to musical theatre with the Broadway productions of My Fair Lady and Camelot. Intertwined with the professional is, of course, the personal and she recounts her relationships with her family, particularly her father and mother who divorced when she was relatively young, as well as her serious romantic show more relationships up to her first marriage and the birth of her daughter, Emma. The audio production is of excellent quality and there are several moments when you can hear the laugh in Andrews' voice as she reads. Highly recommended. show less

I really enjoyed this memoir about Andrew's life growing up in WWII, her trials coming from a broken home, secrets later revealed, etc. Like many people I had assumed that Julie Andrews came from a well-to-do background. She didn't. I also liked that Julie while forthcoming was also decent in her depiction of her family's flaws. And I fell in love a bit with her Dad. He did his best to stay in her life as much as possible after her parent's divorce. When she talked about him calling her Chick I kept hearing my own Dad call me Peanut.

A warm, moving, and often humorous journey from a difficult upbringing in war-torn Britain to the brink of international stardom in America. Her memoir begins in 1935, when Julie was born to an aspiring vaudevillian mother and a teacher father, and takes readers to 1962, when Walt Disney himself saw her on Broadway and cast her as the world's most famous nanny.

Along the way, she weathered the London Blitz of World War II; her parents' painful divorce; her mother's turbulent second marriage to Canadian tenor Ted Andrews, and a childhood spent on radio, in music halls, and giving concert performances all over England. Julie's professional career began at the age of twelve, and in 1948 she became the youngest solo performer ever to show more participate in a Royal Command Performance before the Queen. When only eighteen, she left home for the United States to make her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend, and thus began her meteoric rise to stardom.

Home is filled with numerous anecdotes, including stories of performing in My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison on Broadway and in the West End, and in Camelot with Richard Burton on Broadway; her first marriage to famed set and costume designer Tony Walton, culminating with the birth of their daughter, Emma; and the call from Hollywood and what lay beyond. show less

In this memoir, Andrews discusses her childhood and early adulthood, up to the birth of her daughter and just before she sets off to film Mary Poppins. Despite some unhappy circumstances, she describes her strong attachment to her parents, especially her father, and her love for her siblings and the many places she called home.

Though I've admired her since my childhood, I didn't know very much about Andrews' early career. I knew she originated the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady on Broadway, but I didn't realize that she came up through the British music hall, variety show, and pantomime circuit as a child and young teen. I enjoyed hearing about her experiences, though there was a repetitive quality to the last part of the book show more where she discussed being on Broadway, talking about many friends and acquaintances in the business and having dinners and spending weekends at various people's houses. On the other hand, I was fascinated to learn that Andrews and her husband struck up a close friendship with the author T.H. White prior to opening Camelot on Broadway. (Indeed, I hadn't really realized that Camelot was based on The Once and Future King -- I just thought that both were retellings of Arthurian legend).

I listened to the audiobook, read by the author, of course, and would recommend experiencing the book in that format. I look forward to listening to Andrews' next memoir in future! show less

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years - Julie Andrews
4 stars

The title says it. This is Julie Andrews’ personal story from her earliest years until the early 1960’s when she leaves England to film Mary Poppins. The very beginning of the book gives her earliest memories of her family, her parent’s separation, and being a child during the Blitz. She talks about her introduction to vaudeville as part of her mother and stepfather’s musical act, and how she transitions into a solo performer whose income supported her family. She’s very matter-of-fact about hardships and heartaches, lots of British stiff upper lip. There’s plenty of humor in the stream of anecdotes and I wish I’d had the audio edition to hear her tell the stories in show more her own voice.

I came away with tremendous respect for her discipline as an artist. She talks about the exhaustion she felt after her back to back successes on Broadway, but it’s hard to believe that she didn’t completely crumble under the pressure. This was another book that needed a playlist; The Boyfriend, My Fair Lady, Camelot. I also looked at YouTube for the very young Julie singing God Save The King to the royals, as well as her more recent Kennedy Center awards ceremony. Amazing. show less

I really think I would happily listen to Julie Andrews read the dictionary, which was part of the reason I took this up; but it was such a delightful book. Being of a certain age, I had never given too much thought to Julie Andrews's early work - to me, it was always Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, and The Princess Diaries (and isn't that enough for anyone?). But what an interesting, sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious, life she has led!