Well, I finished one of them! My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme (don't you love how French his name is?!) was hard to get into at first. I couldn't quite accept Julia's "voice" or her writing style. It also kind of bothered me that while it was started before her death, it was published afterwards by her husband's, grandnephew, Alex Prud'homme. I felt like it was choppy and I couldn't quite follow where she was going in each chapter. Was this Alex's voice or Julia's?
Despite the rocky beginning I eventually fell in love with Julia. I looked forward to going to bed so that I could read, I neglected by blogs (just as I suspected) and I felt a cosmic connection to Madame Child and her love for France, her "spiritual homeland", as she called it. Comme je la comprends....
I loved that she was from California (comme moi!), that she loved to eat (comme moi!) and that she could complain about France and sing its praises all at the same time (oui, moi aussi). I never knew my grandmothers and I can only imagine that Julia would have made an amazing one for me...
She laughs about all her mal-entendus with the Frenchies, her fight to pass her diplôme at Le Cordon Bleu and her dedication to the creation of her now famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her relationship with Paul Child is nothing less than incredibly special and somewhat quirky - what other couple sends Valentines with a photo of themselves in the bathtub?!
I was fulfilled when I finished the book but also triste that there wasn't more to read. I've started a few books since then but nothing has pulled me in quite as quickly or completely as My Life in France.
Alors, merci Julia - j'ai adoré! et comme tu dis, toujours bon appetit!
My Moomala snapped this pic while I was reading by the pool back home in California.
A special merci to Neither Here Nor There for a great reading suggestion!
