My Life in France

Although I'd seen the film which I confess was the first time I'd heard of the American version of Elizabeth David, I wasn't until recently aware that Julia Child had written her autobiography and what a revelation it is. A charming, funny, self-deprecating book of life in Paris after the Second World War that brings alive Julia Child's passion for France and food. I've since recommended it to others and they've all loved it. This deserves to be much better known and shows what an innovator she was.

I bought this book after watching the excellent film Julie and Julia and being delighted and intrigued by Meryl Streep's portrayal of Julia Child. I wanted to know how realistic her picture of Julia was. I am delighted to say, from this wonderful memoir written by Julia and her nephew Alex Prudhomme at the end of her long and eventful life, that it was very true to life, or her life as it is portrayed here anyway. Child was deeply, wonderfully eccentric, larger than life and absolutely passionate about everything she did, not least her cooking. Married to a diplomat she travelled the world with him and ended up falling in love with post war Paris and its wonderful cuisine. The first half of the book recounts her years in Paris and Marseille and is told with love, vibrancy, colour and passion. The second half tells of her struggle to get her cookery bookery as she calls it published, and the growth of her television career, and finally her last years in France in Provence.Funny, eccentric, delightful and a joy to read. I was sad when it was finished.

I was attracted to this book because it was about France. It was interesting because it was about French foods. No recipes are included though.

I wanted to hear more about Julia and her husband. The recent film with Meryl Streep as Julia did not do it for me. The book I enjoyed.

The book was well written and contained a lot of funny anecdotes, but I have to admit that I was also a tad annoyed by its frivolity. A large part of the book takes place in post-WWII Europe, and Ms. Child's "culinary adventures" in France contrast sharply with the lives/ reality of millions of normal French people at the time. However, Ms. Child never seems to give this any thought whatsoever, which left a bit of a stale taste behind, at least for me...