Anyone who has seen the film Julie and Julia will be familiar with Julia Child’s time in France. Moving to France in the later 1940s, Julia and her husband set up a life together. The film explores Julie’s task of blogging about Julia Child’s recipes. It switches between Julia (played by Meryl Streep) and her time in France to modern day America and Julie’s blog.
My Life in France goes into more detail and is a personal account by Julia. Moving to France Julia appreciated the good food but her first attempts to cook were disastrous and so eating out became the only viable option. Julia joined a cooking class and from there she began to learn how to cook, leading to a collaboration with two French ladies for a French cookbook for Americans. The book had to draw American women into testing out ambitious and new French recipes and Julia succeeded in doing so. Her cook book ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’ became a bestseller and led to a further 2 volumes being published.
Julia’s personal account is touching and explores an independent woman struggling with the language and culture of a different Country. Yet she soon overcomes this and France ends up being a place close to her heart and a special bond with her husband. Her creativity and simplicity in making recipes easy for an American housewife meant that her cookbooks were a bestseller.
If you are looking for a read about an expat life in another Country, a book on food and a memoir then you should read Julia Child’s My Life in France.
[…] also took up Rose’s blogged recommendation (HERE) to read Julia Child’s My Life in France. Her review sold me. As a fellow lover of Julia and that […]