My Life in France

Continuing on with the French theme...My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme  was my pick for book club.  I was first re-introduced to Julia Child through the popular blog the Julie/Julia Project, where a "serventless American cook" attempts to recreate all the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I then read Julie Powell's book based on the blog (so meta!) and netflixed some of Julia's old "French Chef" shows.  I was smitten! 

Julia Child is admirable in so many ways.  When I worry that I am getting older and have nothing to show for it and relatively little direction, I remember Julia.  She married in her mid-30s and only started cooking when her marriage took them to France.  In an era when women were not encouraged to work and were encouraged to raise a family, Julia broke the mold.  Julia threw her passion into learning, cooking, teaching, traveling and living life to its fullest.  I didn't intentionally pick a love story for February's book club, but it became evident that Julia loved Paul more than anything.  They had overlapping interests and supported each other in everything.  Julia did have conflicts-- as with anyone who collaborates with a friend, disagreements ensued.  But despite her frustrations, the friendship remained of prime importance.  And she flaunted her political beliefs, causing a familial rift with her father, but she stuck to her guns and beliefs.
I think my admiration and lovefest for Julia and this book is pretty clear.  I was even inspired to make French Bread!  This book gets an easy 5/5 netflix stars.