The Secret War of Julia Child

A Novel

By: Diana R. Chambers

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 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Written with flair and charm, Chambers's novel really heats up whenever sex, danger, or dinner come into view." ---Library Journal

Drama of Julia

Misinformation about events inherent life during her service interesting until I learned that a lot of it was made up. I guess the author felt she needed to do that to enhance the drama in the life of Julie Child during her service.

Great book! Very entertaining!

The story was great and I was completely entertained and amazed the whole time. I will say I felt like they should have put a small disclaimer up front about what was fiction instead of waiting until the end because as I was reading it I was really envisioning Julia in those situations. It was historically accurate and an amazing read though! Just don’t totally go on thinking that Julia escaped Japanese soldiers in the jungle on an elephant.

Remember, this is fiction

The story is well-told and does give homage to a strong, brilliant woman. It’s too bad that it’s so heavily embellished, though, as to bury her true story. I read a lot of historical fiction and am fine with small embellishments that help a story flow. Making up significant events, though? Surviving ship sinking and airplane crashes is too far. The author’s notes emphasize this is a work of fiction amd makes an attempt of justifying the liberties taken, but it is still irresponsible and disrespectful. Inevitably, someone will skip those notes and perpetuate the idea that Julia Child flew into a jealous rage and tore up a map Paul had made, after seeing him pay attention to another woman. And this is how fake news starts. When reading this, keep Google close at hand and use it liberally to find out which major events that allegedly formed Julia’s experiences actually happened.

Early Julia Child

I admire Julia Child and I loved this book about her life before French cooking. Though the account sticks closely to actual events, they are fictionalized in places to move the story line along.

Fascinating, delightful book about one of my favorite historical figures.

I love the storytelling, fully knowing that this is a work of fiction, It was fun hearing how the author wove historical facts to a really intriguing tale. Though the author fully admits that some of the more adventurous things may or may not have happened, it’s fun to imagine that who we know as the French Chef had a fascinating, secret past. Absolutely worth the read. And I recommend the audiobook. She captures Julia‘s voice, almost perfectly😊

Excellent in every aspect!

Well documented in reality even though a work of fiction. Supported with years of research as well as beautifully presented!

A little too bland for my palate

All the ingredients are there for what should have been a great audiobook: captivating main character, insightful look into a lesser-known front in WWII, and talented narrator adept at voices, especially Julia’s distinct warble. Unfortunately, while entertaining, the audiobook is a bit too much like eating air-popped popcorn, no butter, no salt.

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.

War and Julia Childs

Good good storyline. interesting aspect of her life. A review of that area of the world in WWII. Audio skips a lot while listening.

Julia Child, more amazing than ever

I didn’t love the over-the-top breathy narration. It was “overacted” and took away from the story.

Don’t pass this up!

The audio version is wonderful and they have captured Julia child’s voice well. This is an interesting piece of historical fiction. The author‘s notes at the end detail which parts are factual, which parts are fictional, and which parts are debatable.