From the moment Audrey Hepburn took a "Roman Holiday" in 1953, she has been a symbol of style and elan. Against the odds, the gamine from Europe managed to defy Hollywood convention, and still turn nearly everyone she encountered into an admirer.

It is that inimitable grace that author Pamela Keogh attempts to condense and dispense in "What Would Audrey Do?: Timeless Lessons for Living With Grace and Style" (Gotham Books, $22.50).

Hepburn fans will recognize the basics in Keogh's latest book.

Yes, Hepburn really had a 20-inch waist and is credited with popularizing everything from capri pants and ballet flats to oversize sunglasses and the little black dress, but Keogh and associates of the late actress insist that Hepburn's style and beauty went beyond the surface.

Living through abandonment by her father, near starvation in Nazi-occupied Holland and, later in life, two divorces, the Belgian- born daughter of a Dutch baroness developed the kind of coping skills that Keogh believes can benefit the modern woman.

"Her life looked like it was a fairy tale and everything went well and she was the princess and she always got the men, which she usually did, but she had a lot of tragedy in her life," the author says. "That's probably real style: the courage to get yourself out there and do the very best that you can every single day."

Keogh, also the author of "Audrey Style" (Harper Collins, $40), didn't set out to be a Hepburn expert.

"It was absolutely unplanned," she says. "I was not a fanatic. I just thought in terms of women and style, she is the top person."

So the next time you find yourself pondering whether to go green, investigate online dating or buy knockoff designer goods, stop for a moment and ask, WWAD?

Q: Why does Hepburn continue to be such a style icon?

A: I think she's a style icon for several reasons. First, she had an impeccable eye. She really didn't make too many mistakes. She was the Mozart of style. She knew what worked for her. In that sense she was pretty European. I think people really respond also to her personality. She was an intriguing combination of being a grown woman and very sophisticated, but she was also very girlish.

Q: Is there a current young celebrity who seems Audrey-like?

A: The person who is No. 1 on the list I wrote is Natalie Portman, I think because of her intelligence.

Q: It seems Hepburn never really understood the fuss over her. Is that a requisite of becoming a legend?

A: She thought she was really lucky, frankly. A lot of Americans don't really know her story. Her father abandoned her and her mother, and in Nazi-occupied Holland they starved. I think because she came out of that really harrowing experience and survived, that to her America was like a dream; the people, the life, the food and the possibility. She didn't take anything for granted. She didn't expect anything. When [designer Hubert de] Givenchy named a perfume after her, she would go to the drugstore to buy it.

Q: In the book, you offer examples of how Hepburn may have handled some modern-day situations. How did you come to those conclusions?

A: Obviously, I spoke to a lot of her friends and then I took all the research that I found and thought, for example, Would Audrey get a tattoo? I was like, "Come on, she didn't even have pierced ears," so you knew Audrey wouldn't go there.

Q: What is the greatest public misconception of Hepburn?

A: That her life was a cakewalk. The acting came easily to her, but other parts of her life were a bit more challenging.

Q: If a woman did only one thing to emulate Audrey Hepburn, what should it be?

A: It would be to smile at a stranger. Smile at someone who is having a bad day.

WOULD AUDREY . . . ?

(Answers to contemporary quandaries as detailed in "What Would Audrey Do?" by Pamela Keogh.)

Google herself? "Ummm, no. And if she did, she'd be freaked out by the several million hits that came up."

Try Internet dating? "This is Audrey we're talking about, not Audrina [Patridge of 'The Hills']."

Put her kids in the public eye? "Hepburn never wanted her children photographed for release. She was afraid of kidnappers, and really, is that ever right?"

Shop at Target? After once discovering that she left her lipstick in the hotel just before a public appearance, Hepburn ducked into a drugstore to buy a tube for $3.99.

Go green? "Hepburn was a huge humanitarian. She also believed in eating healthfully. Just as she made black a fashion statement, she'd probably make green a lifestyle statement."