The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana Chambers

Diana Chambers takes the known facts of the life and work of Julia McWilliams (later Julia Child) from 1943 to 1945 and adds plenty of adventure, undercover work, and near-death experiences to create an exciting World War II novel set in Asia. Julia did work for the OSS, Office of Strategic Services, during the war in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and China, but didn’t talk much about her work. She certainly handled highly classified documents. Julia did meet and fall in love with mapmaker Paul Child, and they both enjoyed their introduction to Chinese food. The author traveled Julia’s route from India to Sri Lanka, then over the Himalayans to Kunming in western China, and her research brings the settings to life, along with the other historical characters. Readalikes include My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme and A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute.

Brenda