The Tennis Champion Who Escaped The Nazis is a family memoir. Felice Hardy’s grandparents fled to London with their daughter, escaping from Nazi-occupied Vienna. This book explores their new lives in England, as well as the terrible fate of those loved ones they were forced to leave behind in the Holocaust.
Felice’s grandmother, Liesl Herbst, was the 1930 Tennis Champion of Austria and later beat Tim Henman’s grandmother at Wimbledon. She and her daughter also played doubles at Wimbledon – the only mother and daughter ever to do so. Woven throughout this book is the search for the author’s own identity. She was raised in an emotionally-ravaged family who suffered from survivor’s guilt and buried their pre-war existence beneath a blanket of denial.
Felice is a journalist who has covered diverse subjects ranging from travel and food to sports and fashion. Her first job was at Vogue magazine and this was followed by a period as deputy editor of a ski magazine. She has also co-written more than 20 travel guidebooks.
Join Felice Hardy and Lucinda Hawksley on 29 June, 12pm. Felice will be talking about her writing career, her ancestors and why, as the descendant of two Wimbledon players, she never ceases to wonder why she can barely hit a ball over the net!