Novel set in COPENHAGEN at Christmas
A re-imagining of Julia Child’s life during WW2: INDIA / CEYLON / CHINA
8th November 2024
The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R Chambers, a re-imagining of Julia Child’s life during WW2.
INDIA / CEYLON / CHINA
Julia Child came to my attention through the film – Julie & Julia – starring Meryl Streep, and prior to that perhaps she was not so well known in Europe. But she seems to have been an icon in North America, so it is lovely to read a little more about her through fiction.
Through the pages of this book Julia McWilliams comes through very much as a ‘firebrand and free thinker”, an exceptionally tall and striking woman, who commanded attention in many ways. She is working as a filing clerk in the Office of Strategic Services, doing her bit for the war effort and is asked to go to India, really, as an agent. After a crossing past the southern tip of Australia in the Mariposa, she arrives in Bombay: “India hit her like slap – a very wet one“. And then it’s on to Colombo and then Kandy in Ceylon where she sets about her tasks with a real sense of purpose. Soon, someone called Paul Child, crosses her path and perhaps the reader starts to have an inkling where their meeting might end. But for now, all eyes are on what is strategically going on in Burma and the Far East.
Her work takes her back to India and over to China, and the author depicts a really good sense of time and place, the food, the mosquitoes, the vegetation and the people she encounters. And generally she takes all the new encounters in her stride, exuding an outer confidence that is quite striking. In the author’s note at the end, Chambers states: “I didn’t fall in love with Julia Child for her cooking. I fell in love with her spirit and commitment, her hunger for experience” and all those qualities shine through loud and clear.
This, of course, is a fictionalised account of her time spent as part of the war effort. Given that she was involved in the field of espionage, there are gaps in her life, which the author has filled to flesh out the story. It is clear that an incredible amount of research has gone into creating this novel, which seems true to her life in many ways. At times the progression felt a little slow but overall this is a lovely tribute to such an icon. And I really like the book cover.
A re-imagining of Julia Child’s life during WW2.
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