My Life in France
From the moment the ship docked in Le Havre in the fall of 1948 and Julia watched the well-muscled stevedores unloading the cargo to the first perfectly soigné meal that she and her husband, Paul, savored in Rouen en route to Paris, where he was to work for the USIS, Julia had an awakening that changed her life. Soon this tall, outspoken gal from Pasadena, California, who didn’t speak a word of French and knew nothing about the country, was steeped in the language, chatting with purveyors in the local markets, and enrolled in the Cordon Bleu.
After managing to get her degree despite the machinations of the disagreeable directrice of the school, Julia started teaching cooking classes herself, then teamed up with two fellow gourmettes, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, to help them with a book they were trying to write on French cooking for Americans. Throwing herself heart and soul into making it a unique and thorough teaching book, only to suffer several rounds of painful rejection, is part of the behind-the-scenes drama that Julia reveals with her inimitable gusto and disarming honesty.
Filled with the beautiful black-and-white photographs that Paul loved to take when he was not battling bureaucrats, as well as family snapshots, this memoir is laced with wonderful stories about the French character, particularly in the world of food, and the way of life that Julia embraced so wholeheartedly. Above all, she reveals the kind of spirit and determination, the sheer love of cooking, and the drive to share that with her fellow Americans that made her the extraordinary success she became.
Le voici. Et bon appétit!
Review: This book was truly a delight to read. My Life in France, as evidenced by the self-explanatory title, details Julia's life abroad when she fell in love with cooking and ultimately gained national acclaim.
Although I am not a particularly advanced cook (by any means) and the topic of food could begin to drag for me, Julia's voice was so engaging, I found this book quite enjoyable. Although told in Julia's own voice, this book was written in partnership with Alex Prud'homme, who just so happened to be Julia's beloved husband's Paul's grand-nephew. Julia always told Alex that he looked like her husband Paul, which possibly helped her to be more at ease with him while telling her story. Julia's idiosyncrasies are captured in the writing. Her little cries dismay of with a "Ouf!" and her frequent French injections such as "Et voila!" are included throughout, which I really enjoyed and appreciated. It felt as if I was having a long conversation with Julia, because her voice and personality shines through so strongly.
I was surprised to see how surprisingly unsentimental Julia is, particularly with her father. On writing about his death in 1962, Julia says "I was fond of Pop, in a way. He had been terribly generous financially, but we did not connect spiritually and had become quite detached" (238). Similarly, although she seems quite inseparable from her husband Paul, she seems to relay the story of his declining health, time in a nursing home, and death in a very detached and matter of fact way. Of course, I'm sure it was difficult to discuss, and her own age at the time of writing (ninety-one) probably contributed to this tone of voice.
I was impressed by Julia's determination and work ethic concerning her career in cooking. Julia worked tirelessly to master her skills, and would spend months perfecting a single recipe to include in her cook books. For example, in pursuit of the perfect recipe for a French baguette, Julia eventually spent "two years and something like 284 pounds of flour to try out all the home-style recipes for French bread we could find" (254). You truly have to be passionate and devoted to spend years in pursuit of perfection, which is exactly what Julia did. Julia is candid about her triumphs, but also her irritation with her French counterpart, Simone Fischbacher, or Simca, who proved increasingly difficult to partner with over time. Julia also discusses complications I hadn't considered, such as differing conversions from French to American recipes and the inability to easily translate French ingredients to American counterparts.
Julia seems to have had an adventurous and fearless spirit. Throughout her life, she was constantly tackling new unknowns and challenging the status quo. From her height of 6'2" to her attempts to master a traditionally male profession in a foreign country to tackling television in its early days, Julia was innovative and devoted in her efforts to introduce quality French cooking for American cooks.
Stars: 4
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