The Tennis Champion Who Escaped the Nazis: From Vienna to Wimbledon, One Family's Struggle to Survive and Win - Paperback

by Felice Hardy (Author)

Liesl Herbst, Austrian National Tennis champion, fled Nazi occupation with her family - this is the moving story of their escape and of what happened to those left behind.

"Stunningly descriptive, compelling writing. I was moved close to tears on several occasions." - Peter James, international bestselling crime writer.

In 1930, at the age of twenty-seven, Liesl Herbst was the Austrian National Tennis Champion, a celebrity in Vienna. Liesl, her husband David and their daughter Dorli came to Britain after escaping the Nazis.

In London, though initially stripped of their Austrian passports and rendered stateless aliens, both Liesl and her daughter Dorli competed at Wimbledon. They remain the only mother and daughter ever to have played doubles together at Wimbledon.

This moving story of escape and survival is told by Liesl's grand-daughter. It is as much a search for the author's own identity as for her own children and grandchildren to ensure that their remarkable family history is never lost again.

Illustrated throughout with family photographs and original documents, this is a story of survival against terrible odds, an inspiring tale of resilience and hope.

'A fabulous story guaranteed to capture people's imagination' - Mail on Sunday.

Author Biography

Felice Hardy is a journalist and author who has written on a variety of topics. As a travel writer, Felice has toured the world for a variety of publications including the Guardian, the Telegraph, Condé Nast Traveller and British Airways' High Life magazine. She co-edits the ski information website Welove2ski and hosts a successful podcast called Action Packed Travel.