Julia

Many years before Julia Child became a household name, she was a California girl who recently finished college and spent her days golfing and playing tennis at the club. Always intelligent, creative and vivacious, it was no surprise that Julia McWilliams was not prepared to sit on the sidelines for long. As many men, including her own dear brother, were enlisting to fight in the war, a friend suggested Julia do her part and join the OSS, Office of Strategic Services. She was stationed abroad in Ceylon and later in China. Her ingenuity, organizational and people skills shone like the star she was. It was there she met Paul Child, a fellow officer in the OSS who was part of an intellectual, artistic crowd that often intimidated Julia. Although she towered above him at 6’ 2”, Paul took Julia under his wing and introduced her to the food, sites and culture of this foreign land. As their relationship grew it was no surprise that after the war they married in a small ceremony surrounded by friends and family. A lifelong civil servant, Paul was placed in a cultural position in Paris. This is when Julia fell madly in love with her husband, cooking and particularly French food - in that order. She studied at Le Cordon Bleu Institute, and the more she learned, the more she realized she had found her life’s calling; food, teaching, cooking and of course, eating. There have been a multitude of books written by and about the life of Julia Child, a name synonymous with cooking. While I knew quite a bit about the highs and lows of her career which began so much later in life than is typical, I learned much more about Julia before cooking - her family, meeting Paul and travels around the world. A well written, easy to digest work of historical fiction that will leave you hungry for more. ⭐⭐⭐⭐