In this article, I analyze Ik, Vondel (2017) by Hans Croiset. How does the reader of this book become convinced that he/she is reading a fictional autobiography of Vondel? I focused on two aspects that encourage such an autobiographical reading: the narrative strategy and the interplay of referential and fictional elements. The one factor that can captivate readers is the complex way in which the very elderly Vondel tells his story as an autobiographical self. He also reflects on his autobiographical writing and on the material forms his autobiography takes. The subservient role of his niece Agnes becomes more important to his autobiography, as his old age increasingly imposes restrictions on him. She appears to be hidden behind both the organizing narrative authority and the guiding narrator who present themselves from the very first chapter. The reader receives referential signals mainly through the annotations and the source list at the back of the book. Within the narrative there are referential signals in terms of the historical-realist details, personal names, locations, and events that create an effect of verisimilitude. Fictionalizing effects include the different types of conversations that I-Vondel stages, as well as the association of his emotion-driven memories with imagined elements.