The Secret War of Julia Child ⭐⭐💫

The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers

Someone posted this in FB group and said "I wish there was a book".

If it's too small to read ~ "Before she mastered the art of French cooking, Julia Child cooked up shark repellent while working for the precursor to the CIA as a covert operative during World War II. Sharks kept unintentionally setting off underwater explosives meant for German U-boats - until Child came up with an inventive recipe that saved the day."

I'm fascinated! 😲

Wish granted. A couple of the HF experts chimed in with this book.

G👀dreads

Before she mastered the art of French cooking in midlife, Julia Child found herself working in the secrets trade in Asia during World War II, a journey that will delight both historical fiction fans and lovers of America's most beloved chef, revealing how the war made her into the icon we know now.

Single, 6 foot 2, and thirty years old, Julia McWilliams took a job working for America's first espionage agency, years before cooking or Paris entered the picture. The Secret War of Julia Child traces Julia's transformation from ambitious Pasadena blue blood to Washington, DC file clerk, to head of General "Wild Bill" Donovan's secret File Registry as part of the Office of Strategic Services.

Genre: Historical Fiction, WWII, Romance

Circa: 1940s

I'm about 20% in. So far it's just okay. The narrator isn't my favorite but she isn't bad. I feel like she's really straining with Julia's voice. It was very distinctive. Like, what kind of accent DID she have? Mr. G says it was called the "transatlantic accent", which is sort of stereotypically snobby, pseudo-Britis. Ha! 😏

80% into Julia's war story. It's good enough but it won't be on the top of my referral list. It's mostly a war story with not much balance of her personal life. I mean she's the main character but still, a war story. At 80% she still doesn't like really Paul, who she ultimately was married to for 48 years! I mean, they banter and as soon as she thinks she might have feelings for him, they quickly dissipate. Their romance has to happen soon because we know live happily ever after!

I gave it a generous 2.5 stars. ⭐⭐💫

This book was very much a war story highlighting America's involvement with Asia during WWII. Like I said at 80% her love story with Paul hadn't even started beyond flirting. It kicked in at about 85% and felt incredibly rushed at that point. I think this story would have been the same if the main character wasn't Julia Child and was any GI Jane doing spy work instead. I think she used Julia's name to attract readers. Well that worked because I most likely wouldn't have read a war story about the Secret War of Betty Lou.

The author’s note at the beginning says she did 10 years of research but the story is her imagination and is just a story.

I believe the majority of the 10 years of research was regarding WWII.

Julia is definitely portrayed as a hero and escaped more life-threatening situations than a cat with nine lives, however, I do not believe Julia would have approved of this version of her story.

🎧Candace Joice

In Real Life - Julia Child's WWII spy status wasn’t declassified until 2008, four years after her death.

Here's a little snippet from G/AI

Another interesting fact about Julia Child (not from the book).

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1968 at the age of 55 after finding a lump in her breast. She was relatively private about her battle, and even in her own journal, simply wrote "Left breast off".

But the life-threatening experience did have an impact on her, even taking a toll on her self-esteem, though Paul would promptly put that to rest. “Paul said, ‘I didn’t marry you for your breasts, I married you for your legs,’ and she never gave it another thought and that was that.” <according to her personal assistant.

She DID have some long beautiful legs!

I love me some Julia Child. This book, meh.

She died in at 91 in 2004 from Kidney Failure.