
The Secret War of Julia Child
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Candace Joice
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, six foot two, 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.
The wartime journey takes her to South Asia's remote front lines of then-Ceylon, India, and China, where she finds purpose, adventure, self-knowledge-and love with mapmaker Paul Child. The spotlight has rarely shone on this fascinating period of time in the life of ("I'm not a spy") Julia Child, and this lyrical story allows us to explore the unlikely world of a woman in a World War II spy station who has no idea of the impact she'll eventually impart.
©2024 Diana R. Chambers (P)2024 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
Dear Listener,
People who viewed this also viewed...


















Drama of Julia
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great book! Very entertaining!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Remember, this is fiction
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Early Julia Child
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fascinating, delightful book about one of my favorite historical figures.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent in every aspect!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The pace of the novel itself works really well, giving us a feel for time and place, and the author has a knack at providing just enough detail to make characters instantly likable, perhaps Julie most of all. She’s smart, witty, and compassionate. The audiobook narrator brings Julie’s joviality to life in dialogues with other characters, which is easy to appreciate. One detractor though is that the narrator is a slow reader, and I found myself speeding it up in .05 increments. By the end, I was at 1.25.
In the afterward, the author provides an overview of her research and sources, including the travel to India and China. I wish she’d have created a fictional character to represent this amazing time and story. The dramatic irony of knowing who Paul and Julie will become to each other is cute, but her continual narrow escapes from certain death took away from the depth that could have been achieved if the spotlight had been on the real events in India and China themselves rather than shallowly placed on a larger-than-life, real person who lived a post-war life in the spotlight.
A little too bland for my palate
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
War and Julia Childs
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Julia Child, more amazing than ever
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Don’t pass this up!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.