Book Review - My Life in France by Julia Child, Alex Prud'Homme

Book Review - My Life in France by Julia Child, Alex Prud'Homme

Published -  2006 by Knopf

Rating- 3/5

Summary -  Source: Goodreads.com

  

In her own words, here is the captivating story of Julia Child’s years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found ‘her true calling.’

Filled with the beautiful black-and-white photographs that Paul loved to take when he was not battling bureaucrats, as well as family snapshots, this memoir is laced with wonderful stories about the French character, particularly in the world of food, and the way of life that Julia embraced so wholeheartedly. Above all, she reveals the kind of spirit and determination, the sheer love of cooking, and the drive to share that with her fellow Americans that made her the extraordinary success she became.

My thoughts on this book...

Julia Child was a very famous chef, author and television personality around the 70s & 80s in America. But I had never heard of her until I watched the 2009 movie, Julie & Julia. Since then I was intrigued by her. As I wanted to know more about her, love food, carry a dream of travelling to France and wanted to read biographies, I picked up My Life in France.

This book talks about her journey to France, exploring the beautiful place, discovering the real pleasure of good food, learning to cook and becoming a celebrity chef. Its a lovely read but I had the urge to skip some pages in between. Mainly because I couldn't relate or understand things that were very specific to the place, period and people mentioned. 

But her life taught me quite a few things and many traits of her amazed me. Things that I loved about her and her life the most was that she was a late bloomer. It was amazing to know that someone who went on to become one of the top American chefs didn't know how to cook much initially. It helps to ease the pressure of living in a society that wants us to decide our career path before we turn 16!

When she decided to learn how to cook well, she didn't hesitated to join one of the best French cooking schools - Le Cordon Bleu. Nothing intimidated her. Her life teaches that you can discover your passion at any age and that you are never too old to learn anything. Her dedication, perseverance and honesty to the art of  cooking is commendable. The wonderful and matured relationship with her husband, Paul Child was another beautiful aspect of her life. 

And she made me fall more and more in love with France! <3 Can't wait to visit Europe...