My Life in France

I just finished this book, and I am unashamed to say I have shed tears for the loss of this great woman. I am discovering the art of cooking later in life, as Julia did, and she has helped give me the courage I am needing to change careers and attend culinary arts training this spring. What a marvelous book, I felt that I was there with her in her "la belle France" and wish that I could have had the opportunity to spend time in the kitchen with her. You will not be disappointed in this fantastic read.

This book was so enjoyable to read! I was fascinated by this look into post-war France, and into Julia's world there. It made me wish I would have know her and understand why it seems that everyone who knew her, loved her.

One thing I thought was fun was her encyclopedic recall of various meals they enjoyed, including the wine vintage.

You'll also love hearing how she came to write her first cookbook and become a host of her own show on PBS. For those of us who are over 40, it's also great to note that the most interesting parts of her life didn't even begin until then.

My Life in France gives the reader a glimpse into the extraordinary and elegant life of Julia Child. The memoir adds another dimension to Julia the TV persona and looks beyond the lighthearted image. Indeed, beyond Julia's fun spirit was an unbelievable level of meticulous research and above all, fearlessness and stamina. My Life in France is a delight to read for anyone who wishes to understand the origin of Julia's passion for French cooking and her ability to transform one's vision of and taste for fine food. My Life in France

This has risen to the top of my favorite books list. It's so well written, with plenty of imagery and descriptive language that I felt I was in Julia's kitchen with her. I learned quite a bit about her relationship with her husband and both their careers. The best was reading about how the recipes and the books were written.

If you are planning to write a cook book or are very interested in cooking and chefs, you should definitely buy this book.

'My Life in France' is a superb book that effuses with that wonderful endearing quality we have all come to know and love in Julia Child. The book focuses mainly on the early years of developing her first cookbooks and television show.

The book begins when she and her husband, Paul, make their first trip to France because of his new job assignment. You feel her giddy excitement upon landing on the shores of a place she had for so long desired to go. We hear in minute detail the look, smell and taste of her first French meal, and from there we are introduced to "La Belle France". Before I began the book, I wondered for how long I could sustain reading each night about a person's breakfast, lunch or dinner meal that had been eaten 50 years prior, but Julia has such an adorable way of speaking, and her sometimes child-like observations of life and people around her are so heartwarming, you just wish you had been there. As the book progresses, she speaks about her collaboration with two women for her first book, and sometimes the claws come out. You're thinking, "Julia!" But, as with all friendships, there are things that agree with us and things that don't. Without some of these tidbits, the book may have been too trite, or frankly boring. Subsequently, it was interesting to hear of the minor squabbles that occurred between the women and the simple controversies concerning her husband and his role as a "diplomat". Paul and Julia Child made many friends overseas, whom they adored and loved. The majority of these people stayed in her inner circle until the end of their lives. For me, night after night, I couldn't wait to sit down and read about so many dinner parties with simmering meats and side dishes, lovely conversations, and eccentric friends. The only thing I didn't like about the book is that it ended too quickly, and I found myself missing the evenings with Julia.