The Secret War of Julia Child aims to tell about Julia McWilliams Child’s time in the Pacific theater as an OSS operative during WWII. The story is lengthy and slow-paced and while I enjoyed parts of the story, and the author’s research is evident, my biggest problem comes from the fact that she chose to sensationalize the story of a very well-known person. This is historical fiction, so some things are embellished; that's to be expected. However, as I read/listened, I thought many times that it seemed impossible for one person to have survived so many separate events (enemy attacks on land, sinking boat/only survivor, plane crash, etc). Sure enough, the author's note reveals that most of them were not true (but they could have happened was mentioned many times). Events like this happening in a story to an entirely fictional character in order to explain what was happening in that time period, yes, but to put a well-known, real person into situations you know she wasn't a part of just doesn't work for me. Her life as an OSS operative was interesting enough without placing her in dramatic, sometimes tragic, events she simply wasn’t a part of

Her romance with her future husband, Paul Child, whom she met while they both served overseas, was also frustrating. Does she or doesn’t she like him? She acted very juvenile about the entire relationship (she’s 30+ years old, by the way). Then, when it got physical, it was a little cringy to read about.

Additionally, there were so many characters and it was difficult to keep track of them.

I would honestly prefer a nonfiction account of her time in WWII.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an ARC of this novel.

Those who grew up with Julia Child’s cookbooks and TV shows, and those of a younger generation who were introduced to her through Meryl Streep’s performance in the 2009 film Julie & Julia, know about her status as the American chef who became an international culinary celebrity during the second half of the 20th century. Few know about her ‘before’ life as the gawky, 6 foot 2, daughter of wealthy California parents who enjoyed a privileged upbringing in Pasadena and an Ivy League education that carried her blithely through the Depression into a role in FDR’s war office. Although she initially took a job as a lowly file clerk to serve her country, her intelligence, resourcefulness, resilience, and patriotic devotion quickly saw her promotion to the inner ranks of General ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan’s Office of Strategic Services. Whereupon she became a spy. This is the Julia Child of the novel; the real-life Julia Child declared that she ‘was never a spy.’

Before the war in the Pacific ends with two atomic bombs, fictional Julia has done her bit in Ceylon, India, Burma and China. She has met her one true love, the cartographer and OSS operative Paul Child. She has worked for many of the Allied leaders, including Lord Mountbatten and the upper ranks of Chiang Kai-shek’s American-supported government, as well as the American president and his military kingpins . This is factual. More imaginary are her various death-defying feats that sometimes stretch credulity, but they do build on the tension and anxiety that were undoubtedly very real in wartime, especially for those engaged in dangerous high-stakes operations.

As historical fiction, not history, and given how little about secret service strategies is on the public record, much of this comes from the author’s imagination. She makes it clear in her epilogue that this is not so much a work about Julia Child—who is actually Julia McWilliams until the last few pages—as it is a work inspired by her that considers what she might have experienced. Much is made of her courage and intrepid action. But even more is made of her obsessive insecurities that focus on her height, big feet, small breasts and frizzy hair, but also the ‘Hollywood legs’ and athleticism that she is proud of. There are a few eye-rolling moments in which she empathizes with the suffering of American Blacks and the oppressed of the colonies as though standing out as a taller than average woman puts her in a similar position. There are other ‘tone-deaf’ instances. She expresses enormous compassion sympathy for the poor and starving, but enjoys her gin and tonic and champagne and choice foods even in the midst of starvation. But she does over-tip.

I wanted to love this book, and I was willing to buy into the ‘what if’ elements. Even in non-fictional historical writing, connections and context have to draw on imagination. There simply isn’t definitive evidence for everything. But what is possible in the imagination must also be plausible. Julia’s adventures in Asia seem to be speculative fiction more than a fictionalized account of historical reality. I also didn’t warm up to either Julia or her eventual beloved Paul. They both come across as arrogant, self-obsessed, and immature, more like teenagers than the middle-aged sophisticates they are supposed to be. Julia’s mother Caro, deceased before the story starts, is an intrusive presence far too often, as almost everything happening in front of her sparks memories about their seemingly perfect mother-daughter relationship. Her father, Pops, doesn’t appear nearly as much but sometimes literally ‘pops’ into an important scene with the comments Julia thinks he would make. The story wouldn’t suffer for their loss.

The author spent ten years researching this project, and this shows through clearly in her description of the condition of the Pacific colonies and their people, exploited by their European colonizers who put their own interests first even while under attack. The truest sentence in the book comes from Paul Child, who declares that war is an ugly beast. A couple of references to this as ‘the war to end all wars’ are off-putting. Wrong world war. This was ‘the war to save the world for democracy’. This is, overall, an entertaining read, but I’d advise reading the epilogue first.

Enthralling!

So Julia Child is one of my fav people. Ever since I saw the film of her cooking omelettes for 100 plus people on a couple of spirit stoves at the Smithsonian Institute in D.C. I’ve been intrigued.
Intrigued by her ‘can do’ attitude, her indomitable spirit, her zest for life.
That has been fuelled further by various movies and TV series that have added to her legend over the years.
Of her previous life with the Office of Espionage Services there has been little mention.
That’s part of what makes this novel so interesting. Julia’s forays into the far east as head of the Registry of OSS brings to life the people she meets and trusts.
There’s Julia’s observations of the situation as the Japanese edge closer to unoccupied countries —through Sri Lanka, northern provinces of China, Burma, eventually down into Malaya.
The people she meets, including nationalists leader Chiang Kai-Shek and Madam Chiang Kai-Shek, communist party adherents—all fighting the common enemy, Japan.
And of course her beginning and subsequent relationship with Paul Child who was a mapmaker, and so much more.
Julia didn’t trust Paul when she first met him but that would slowly develop and become the loving, enhancing lifelong partnership they had.
Paul encouraged Julia “to relax and simply be. She did!
A fascinating couple, both with amazing stories, individually and together, that continued long after the war!
Above all it’s Julia’s attitude towards the local people she works with and meets, her ability to thrive in situations and places most of us would run screaming from, that informs and endears. The flight from India over the ‘bump’ of the Himalaya’s into China was evisceratingly scary.
A brilliant fictional look at Julia based on factual information of the times. What could’ve, might’ve, should’ve, and possibly did occur. Amazingly in-depth research from Chambers!
Bravo!

A Sourcebooks ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

This historical fiction novel tells the story of Julia Child before she married Paul Child & became the famous chef, known for her French cuisine & witty banter on her cooking show., Single, 6 foot 2, and thirty years old, Julia McWilliams took a job working for America's first espionage agency.
She went from Washington, DC file clerk, to head of General "Wild Bill" Donovan's secret File Registry as part of the Office of Strategic Services.
During the war, while in China, she fell in love with mapmaker Paul Child. The book details their entire wartime journey and eventually the romance that followed. ,

I remember watching her cooking show on TV as a child on Saturdays, and then much more recently, watching the HBO series Julia. Although the HBO series mentioned briefly the time she & Paul spent abroad during the war, it didn't go into detail, so this was the first time learning a lot of this. The author did make note at the beginning and end of the book that some parts were fictionalized , but the majority of the story was based on facts. Despite the fact that I found Julia to be an amazing woman with even more depth than I had imagined, I found the book to be a bit of a slow burn from start to finish. Overall though, it is a good read and worth checking out.

I have to admit that I paid very little attention to Julia Child while I was growing up. She was just a woman with a funny voice who had a cooking program on television-- and I hated cooking. (I still do.) If not for the fact that I'm a fan of Meryl Streep's movies, I never would've watched Julie & Julia, and I never would've become fascinated by the woman with the funny voice-- and that fascination led me to Diana R. Chambers' The Secret War of Julia Child.

Julia Child had an unconventional mother who wanted more for her daughter. This made Julia keenly ambitious and determined to make her mark in the world. She knew she had to make a difference. I enjoyed the often poetic descriptions of the Asian landscape and how Julia sampled every bit of native cuisine that she could-- a harbinger of things to come-- but the book came up short in other areas.

One thing readers should keep in mind as they read this book is that it's not based on fact. As the author says, "I offer my story as one that exists only in the realm of possibility, a personal interpretation inspired by admiration and respect," and it is this that was the book's downfall. Julia as a spy, as a code breaker, and adept at plugging leaks? Yes, I can see that, but Chambers went on to add too much to Julia's fictional resume, almost making her an addition to the Marvel Universe of superheroes. This woman did make an impact on the world, so I don't think it was really necessary to "gild the lily."

The landscape, the food, the long, involved road to finding love with Paul Child... I enjoyed all these things, but Julia was no superhero.

The Secret War of Julia Child concentrates on her life-time-period before becoming the famous chef; she had a passion to serve her nation.

Julia moved from California to DC where she got her first job at Research Department during WWII. She was quickly elevated to more secret positions, but instead of sitting behind a desk, she craved to be in the field. As a lifelong reader of mysteries and spy novels, she craved hands on action. Her persistence led her to an assignment in Asia.

The story depicts well the spirit of Julia, her hunger for adventure, determination, courage, loyalty, and doing good. She dreamed big, taking giant steps. She wasn’t afraid to apply for something she didn’t have experience in. And she was persistent in achieving whatever she set her mind to.

The author did an extensive research. However, there are some gaps in Julia’s story and filled with writer’s creative imagination.

At times, the story is quite descriptive, making the pace slow.

Nevertheless, it was interesting to learn more about this period and Julia’s contribution, especially when she is primarily known as celebrity chef. This story shows a different side of her, not diminishing her lively spirit.

Thank you Sourcebooks for my #gifted copy of The Secret War of Julia Child! #sourcebooks #bookmarked #sourcebookslandmark #TheSecretWarOfJuliaChild #DianaRChambers

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐑. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒

When I first saw the title for this book months ago, I was so intrigued. I’ve always loved Julia Child, but only knew her for her cooking skills. When I read the description for this book, I knew I had to read this book. I flew through this book so quickly. I loved hearing about a different side of Julia Child, and seeing her determination and drive to achieve her goals. It was also interesting to learn more about WWII in Asia. I will admit, this was a part of that time period I knew nothing about. I really loved learning about Julia’s relationship with Paul, and how it was kind of an enemies to lovers type situation. Overall, I found this book to be so well-researched and entertaining. If you love historical fiction and Julia Child, I think you will really enjoy this book!

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**Posted on Amazon on October 22, 2024
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I did not enjoy this. This book badly needs to be edited, as there were several continuity and plot errors throughout. I thought there were too many characters and it was too difficult to keep them straight. Ditto for dialogue. As other reviewers have noted, it was often hard to determine which character was speaking. I like the idea of a historical fiction novel based on Julia Child's wartime efforts, but this just missed the mark. I was bored and wished I had picked up a nonfiction version of her story instead.
I would not recommend this to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC!

The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R Chambers is a story long before Julia McWilliams becomes Julia Child and world renowned French Chef. Ms. Chambers story is a fictional but entirely possible account of Julia McWilliams time serving her Country in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. I totally appreciated Ms. Chambers iteration of Julia McWilliams at 30. She has lost her mother and decided she needed to contribute to the ‘cause’.

She starts out in Washington D.C. working for Bill Donovan (also known as Wild Bill). This young Julia is a talented, strong woman who is loyal, patriotic and fun. She is also extremely independent and some what fearless. She totally lacks self confidence and has a low self esteem about her body image. She feels she is too tall (6”2”), has big feet (needs to buy shoes in the men’s department) and has frizzy unmanageable hair to name a few of her insecurities.

When Julia uses her natural intelligence and innate ability to organize, she finds herself being dispatched from one exciting covert mission to another. From the former Ceylon to India and China, Julia learns, grieves, and grows. The story is nicely balanced between intrigue, drama, humor and romance. (This is where she first meets her future husband, Paul Childs). The book also helps the reader gain a better understanding of this little discussed part of World War II.

While there were parts of the story that dragged for me, the overall story was a good one. It’s too bad we can’t get into the OSS archives to find out the specifics of Julia’s service.

I would like to thank Ms. Chambers, Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is another. Side of julia child people don't realize. She was in burma and china as The spy for the united states government. This wasn't interesting because she had a great adventure there.. She also met Paul child Who became her husband after the war. She had a lot of adventures and Some fun As well. This was an interesting book.Because it showed how she was a young girl and she just graduated from smith college. This was an great invention for her because they're This allowed her to travel. I couldn't believe the conditions Some places they have to live. This takes a lot of courage when you're a young woman. This makes you also stronger in life.Because you can realize you can survive anything. I like how the love story played out with P a u l child. Great book

I enjoyed this book and the writing. I think it is a great reading journey to follow Julia along in south east Asia and it is a quite action packed book in my view. I think it would make a great movie to be honest, as there is scenes that are super fast and dramatic, but also the slightly slower paced scenes around strategic planning and also friendship and our love story. I particularly enjoyed that I never knew what would happen next and which adventure would await Julia in the new countries. The book is set in the USA, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and China, so quite a few locations. I would have wished for a bit more love story, as I know she fell in love with her future husband Paul Child while being in south east Asia. But that is my only criticism and I recommend this book to anyone loving historical fiction!

Before Julia Child was the famous chef, she was Julia McWilliams, a 30 year old spy in the OSS during WWII. Her role took her to Ceylon and China as she met interesting characters (some who would haunt her and her husband later in life) as well as her husband Paul. The novel takes us through a fictional account of her WWII adventures.

I wanted to love this as much as I love Julia but it just did not work for me. The pacing was too slow and I kept trying to get into the story but reading it wasn’t working for me so I was thrilled when I received the audio ARC. It definitely moved faster once I could listen to it (and I switched back and forth between reading and listening) but it still never fully grabbed my attention. I loved learning about Julia’s OSS life and it’s a part of her story that I’ve always wanted to know more about so for that I am happy that I read this one. I also really enjoyed the scenes where she fell in love with Paul. But for an adventurery novel I would expected to have it more faster and be a little more fun.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC to review

What an interesting (and different) look at part of Julia Child’s life! Even though it was fiction, I wanted to know more. Given the subject matter, I wish the book had been faster-paced as it was hard to stay engaged at times.

I had heard of Julia Child, but I didn’t know much about her. This book followed her during WWII, during which she went overseas working for the Office of Strategic Services both to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and China.

This book was really interesting, but it moved very slow. I really enjoyed learning about parts of history that I didn’t know about. I just wish the book had a slightly faster pace.

I had read that famed chef Julia Child served as an intelligence records keeper overseas during World War II, where she met her later husband Paul Child. I thought it would be interesting to read a book about that period in her life, though understanding that it’s fiction draped on the bare bones of what we know about that period in her life.

Julia McWilliams, a tall young woman from Pasadena wants to help the war effort. She becomes a clerk in DC, but because she’s a college graduate from a privileged background and has some language skills, she’s soon whisked off to work directly with William “Wild Bill” Donovan, head of the spy agency OSS, nicknamed Oh So Secret. She wangles a posting to the Southeast Asia part of the war effort, where she is in charge of all documents, including the secret ones, and is told by Donovan to also watch their British allies and keep him posted.

After a brief stop in India, Julia’s team is soon transferred to Kandy, a mountain town in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The Americans are just setting up there, adjacent to where the British have an established post. The life of a civilian office worker overseas is a strange mix of exotic, glamorous, uncomfortable, mundane, but sometimes deadly dangerous. Julia, in her early 30s, is anxious to prove herself, to make something of herself aside from the conventional and conservative person her strict father expects, to honor the adventurous nature of her dead mother.

All of Julia’s OSS personnel records are available online, but they won’t tell you much other than her postings and pay, and that she was transferred to China for the last six months of her service, where she earned a commendation for her work quickly and efficiently setting up a documents registry there. Those records will tell you nothing about how she met Paul Child in Kandy, how she thought him arrogant at first, and how things changed. But this book imagines how that all played out, interspersed with frequent action and danger, and even Julia and Paul pursuing their own investigation into how Allied goods intended for the war effort are disappearing.

It was interesting to see Julia (McWilliams) Child before she became the famous French Chef, to see her outsize personality even then, and the seeds of her ambition to do everything thoroughly and well—but with great good humor. Diana Chambers has done her research and put together a story for this era of Julia’s life that is sometimes implausible, but interesting. For me, though, the writing lacked that elusive spark that brings characters and a story to vivid life. Sadly, it felt closer to a duty than a pleasure to get through the pages.

Wow, who knew? When I thought of Julia Child, I thought of cooking. But during WW2, Julia worked for the OSS. Starting as a register and office worker in Washington and ending in southeast Asia. Not only an office worker, she was a spy. Really interesting story, and besides being a good read, I learned history I didn't know. Thank you to Net Galley ., the author and publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC

In the early days of World War II, Julia McWilliams landed a job as a file clerk with the newly-formed OSS (Office of Strategic Services). Not happy to be doing nothing more exciting than shuffling papers, she eventually talked her way into a field assignment in the Far East. There, she becomes more involved in the business of the spy station and has a greater impact than anyone could have imagined.

While most people think of Paris, cooking and television – not necessarily in that order – when they hear the name Julia Child, many also know that before all that came into her life, she was a “spy” during World War II. She insisted that she was *not a spy, but her work in Ceylon, India and China would indicate otherwise. This book relates a <u>fictional account<u> of what the author thinks her life may have been like during that time period. <i>(Emphasis on ‘fictional’ because it seems that many reviewers were expecting a factual account, even though the author clearly states in her introduction that the book is a work of fiction.)</i>

I thought there was probably a little too much “I’ve got to find a husband!” in the story, but aside from that, I enjoyed this what-if look at the life of a woman I admire, and could hear her voice during many of the scenes described. The scenes with mapmaker Paul, her future husband, were more entertaining to me than they would have been to her, but those moments broke up some of the seriousness of the rest of the book. I’m glad I took the time to read this one, and will recommend it to other fans of this amazing woman.

Fictionalizing the life of a real person is always tricky, especially when they’re as famous as Julia Child. While the idea of exploring her time in the war sounds like an exciting premise, this book doesn’t quite live up to its potential.

I didn’t find much in the plot or characters that pulled me in, and it ended up being a bit of a slog to get through. The romance between Paul and Julia, which could’ve added warmth and intrigue, didn’t really work for me. It felt flat and not all that convincing.

The book is well-researched, but trying to create a fictional story around such a well-known person seems like an uphill battle, and it shows. It’s hard to make it feel believable.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebook Landmark for the ARC.

"The Secret War of Julia Child" by Diana R. Chambers is a fun fictional dive into the gourmet chef and television personality's life during the war years when she met her husband Paul while doing war work overseas. It's a fact that Julia did serve with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS, the precursor to the CIA) during World War II, but whether or not she was actually a spy is left to our imagination, and to the imagination of the writer of this novel.

The book is a very interesting and well-researched window into the Allied war years in India, Ceylon, and China. I did feel the story lagged a little bit at times and I found myself loosing interest and had to push myself back into the book. But overall, this is a really great read and made me want to dust off my Julia Child's cookbook once more and spend more time with this incredible woman from the 20th century.

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC. My opinions re my own.

The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers offers a fictionalized account of the famous chef and her husband Paul Child during World War II, focusing on their contributions during this tumultuous time. Chambers' well-researched narrative brings to life vibrant and dangerous locales, from the stunning landscapes of India and Sri Lanka to the perilous journey through Burma and China. The tension of war is palpable, especially in regions of Asia that are rarely highlighted in historical fiction.

While the novel shines in its vivid descriptions and historical depth, it does suffer from pacing issues in some sections, which may slow down the reading experience. However, for readers intrigued by Julia Child and her remarkable life, this book offers an engaging glimpse into a lesser-known chapter of her story.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing both the egalley and physical copy.