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My Life in France

Julia Child,

Alex Prud’homme

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Mar 31, 2015 Book Concierge rated it really liked it

Shelves: concierge, cooking, strong-women, library, memoir, autobiography, audio, france

Audiobook read by Flo Salent Greenberg

From the introduction: This is a book about some of the things I have loved most in life: my husband, Paul Child; la belle France; and the many pleasures of cooking and eating. It is also something new for me. Rather than a collection of recipes, I’ve put together a series of linked autobiographical stories, mostly focused on the years 1948 through 1954, when we lived in paris and Marseille, and also a few of our later adventures in Provence. Those early yea ...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Jenn Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ Schu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography, favorites

This has to be one of the most inspiring books that I’ve read this year. Julia Child’s views on life, her desire for a life that didn’t merely consist of a hobby, and her passion for French food and culture made for a wonderfully delicious read.

I decided to read My Life in France a few years after the movie Julie and Julia premiered. I was fascinated with Julia’s life throughout the movie and even fast forwarded through many parts of Julie’s life as she was tiresome and boring. After learning la This has to be one of the most inspiring books that I’ve read this year. Julia Child’s views on life, her desire for a life that didn’t merely consist of a hobby, and her passion for French food and culture made for a wonderfully delicious read.

I decided to read My Life in France a few years after the movie Julie and Julia premiered. I was fascinated with Julia’s life throughout the movie and even fast forwarded through many parts of Julie’s life as she was tiresome and boring. After learning last year that I was infertile, I have struggled with the loss and remembered Julia Child’s pain of childlessness, expressed beautifully by Meryl Streep in the movie, and decided I might find solitude in her writing.

Oh, but the joys and passions I found in this book! Certainly Julia Child was broken hearted about her and Paul being childless, but she found a true calling and passion in cooking. She nurtured each recipe with such expertise after long and arduous research and with such zest! Julia traveled to many regions of France, befriending the people, learning the traditions, the language, the culture. She truly immersed herself and emerged as a passionate French chef. Julia truly had a love in her life as strong as her relationship to Paul and that was French food.

Julia Child has inspired me at a point in my life when I’ve had to rethink my life plan, whether she intended to or not. My plan was simple after marrying the love of my life: have a family, go back to complete my PhD in history and teach college. All of that slipped away when the doctor’s words, “infertile,” passed into reality. I left teaching, mind you I was burning out before I found out the diagnosis, mostly because I couldn’t deal with working with children. I needed to fill the void and find new passions as Julia Child had done upon moving to France with Paul due to his job. I am not sure if I’ve found this passion, yet, but I am looking and hoping to find the same love as Julia. I am honored to have read Julia Child’s words and in her honor I created a beloved French recipe, beef bourguignonne.
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Mar 20, 2012 Theresa rated it really liked it

For the first two/thirds of this book, you hear Julia's voice, and what a voice it is! The last part, written posthumously, reads more like a typical flat biography, but still enjoyable. ...more

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May 10, 2011 Kelly marked it as to-read

Sep 21, 2022 Amber K marked it as to-read

Shelves: memoirs-biographies

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