Julia Child Popular Books
Julia Child Biography & Facts
Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her subsequent television programs, the most notable of which was The French Chef, which premiered in 1963. Early life On August 15, 1912, Julia Child was born as Julia Carolyn McWilliams in Pasadena, California. Child's father was John McWilliams Jr. (1880–1962), a Princeton University graduate and prominent land manager. Child's mother was Julia Carolyn ("Caro") Weston (1877–1937), a paper-company heiress and daughter of Byron Curtis Weston, a lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. Child was the eldest of three, followed by a brother, John McWilliams III, and sister, Dorothy Cousins. Child attended Polytechnic School and Westridge School from 4th grade to 9th grade in Pasadena, California. In high school, Child was sent to the Katherine Branson School in Ross, California, which was at the time a boarding school. Child played tennis, golf, and basketball as a youth. Child also played sports while attending Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, from which she graduated in 1934 with a major in history. At the time she graduated, she planned to become a novelist, or perhaps a magazine writer. Following her graduation from college, Child moved to New York City, where she worked for a time as a copywriter for the advertising department of W. & J. Sloane. She was still hoping to become a novelist. While Child grew up in a family with a cook, she did not observe or learn cooking from this person, and she never learned until she met her husband-to-be, Paul, who grew up in a family very interested in food. Career Second World War Child joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in 1942 after finding that at six feet, two inches (1.88 m) tall, she was too tall to enlist in the Women's Army Corps (WACs) or in the U.S. Navy's WAVES. She began her OSS career as a typist at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., but, because of her education and experience, soon was given a position as a top-secret researcher working directly for the head of OSS, General William J. Donovan. As a research assistant in the Secret Intelligence division, Child typed over 10,000 names on white note cards to keep track of officers. For a year, she worked at the OSS Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section (ESRES) in Washington, D.C. as a file clerk and then as an assistant to developers of a shark repellent needed to ensure that sharks would not explode ordnance targeting German U-boats. When Child was asked to solve the problem of too many OSS underwater explosives being set off by curious sharks, "Child's solution was to experiment with cooking various concoctions as a shark repellent," which were sprinkled in the water near the explosives and repelled sharks. Still in use today, the experimental shark repellent "marked Child's first foray into the world of cooking." During 1944–1945, Child was posted to Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where her responsibilities included "registering, cataloging and channeling a great volume of highly classified communications" for the OSS's clandestine stations in Asia. She was later posted to Kunming, China, where she received the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service as head of the Registry of the OSS Secretariat. For her service, Child received an award that cited her many virtues, including her "drive and inherent cheerfulness". As with other OSS records, her file was declassified in 2008. Unlike other files, Child's complete file is available online. While in Kandy, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) she met Paul Cushing Child, also an OSS employee, and the two were married on September 1, 1946, in Lumberville, Pennsylvania, later moving to Washington, D.C. Paul, a New Jersey native who had lived in Paris as an artist and poet, was known for his sophisticated palate, and introduced his wife to fine cuisine. He joined the United States Foreign Service, and, in 1948, the couple moved to Paris after the State Department assigned Paul there as an exhibits officer with the United States Information Agency. The couple had no children. Post-war France Child repeatedly recalled her first meal at La Couronne in Rouen as a culinary revelation; once, she described the meal of oysters, sole meunière, and fine wine to The New York Times as "an opening up of the soul and spirit for me." In 1951, she graduated from the famous Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris and later studied privately with Max Bugnard and other master chefs. She joined the women's cooking club Le Cercle des Gourmettes, through which she met Simone Beck, who was writing a French cookbook for Americans with her friend Louisette Bertholle. Beck proposed that Child work with them to make the book appeal to Americans. In 1951, Child, Beck, and Bertholle began to teach cooking to American women in Child's Paris kitchen, calling their informal school L'école des trois gourmandes (The School of the Three Food Lovers). For the next decade, as the Childs moved around Europe and finally to Cambridge, Massachusetts, the three researched and repeatedly tested recipes. Child translated the French into English, making the recipes detailed, interesting, and practical. In 1963, the Childs built a home near the Provence town of Plascassier in the hills above Cannes on property belonging to co-author Beck and her husband, Jean Fischbacher. The Childs named it "La Pitchoune", a Provençal word meaning "the little one" but over time the property was often affectionately referred to simply as "La Peetch". In his New York Times best-selling book, Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, author Bob Spitz stated that Child was diagnosed with breast cancer in the mid-60s. She had a mastectomy on February 28, 1968. Media career The three would-be authors initially signed a contract with publisher Houghton Mifflin, which later rejected the manuscript for seeming too much like an encyclopedia. When it was finally published in 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf, the 726-page Mastering the Art of French Cooking was a best-seller and received critical acclaim that derived in part from the American interest in French culture in the early 1960s. Lauded for its helpful illustrations and precise attention to detail, and for making fine cuisine accessible, the book is still in print and is considered a seminal culinary work. Following this success, Child wrote magazine articles and a regular column for The Boston Globe newspaper. She would go on to publish nearly twenty titles under her name and with others. Many, though not all, were related to her television shows. Her last book was the autobiographical My Life in France, published posthumously in 2006 and written with her grandnephew, Alex Prud'homme. The book recounts Child's life with her husband, Paul Cushing Child, in postwar.... Discover the Julia Child popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Julia Child books.
Best Seller Julia Child Books of 2024
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What She Ate
Laura ShapiroA Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2017One of NPR Fresh Air's "Books to Close Out a Chaotic 2017"NPR's Book Concierge Guide To 2017’s Great Reads“How lucky...
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Julia, Child
Kyo Maclear & Julie MorstadJulia and Simca are two young friends who agree that you can never use too much butter and that it is best to be a child forever. Sharing a love of cooking and having no wish to t...
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Appetite for Life
Noel Riley FitchJulia Child became a household name when she entered the lives of millions of Americans through our hearts and kitchens. Yet few know the richly varied private life that lies behin...
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How to Woo a Reluctant Lady
Sabrina JeffriesNew York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries delights readers yet again with the third sizzling Regency romance in her Hellions of Hallstead Hall series, featuring the indepe...
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The Waiter
Matias Faldbakken“As if The Remains of the Day had been written by Kingsley Amis, The Waiter is…one of the most purely entertaining novels I’ve read in years. This book is a meal you won’t want to ...
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The French Chef Cookbook
Julia ChildA beautiful new edition of the beloved cookbook capturing the spirit of Julia Child's debut TV show, which made her a star and is now featured as the centerpiece of Max's Julia.The...
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Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1
Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle & Simone BeckNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The definitive cookbook on French cuisine for American readers: "What a cookbook should be: packed with sumptuous recipes, detailed instructions, and pre...
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The Sea Gate
Jane JohnsonA broken family, a house of secretsan entrancing tale of love and courage set during the Second World War.After Rebecca’s mother dies, she must sort through her empty flat and come...
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French Country Cooking
Elizabeth DavidFrench Country Cooking first published in 1951 is filled with Elizabeth David's authentic recipes drawn from across the regions of France.'Her books are stunningly well written ....
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Julia Child
Lynn GilbertThe oral biography of Julia Child, whose love of French culture and cuisine brought a renewed appreciation for the culinary arts in America. Editorial Reviews One of those rare, ra...
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Backstage With Julia
Nancy Verde BarrYou’ll love this intimate portrait of the inimitable Julia Child by Nancy Verde Barr, her executive chef and friend for twentyfour years. Brimming with anecdotes, memorabilia, and ...
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The Virgin Who Captured a Viscount
Anna BradleyBehind the buttonedup façade of The Clifford Charity School for Wayward Girls reside some of London’s most brilliant ladies. For the extraordinary young women of the secret Swoonin...
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The Secret Father
Kim LawrenceHe wanted his sonbut did he need a wife?Sam Rourke was handsome and successfulbut it was a family that he craved....Lindy Lacey was determined to discover if there was more to Sam ...
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Let Them Eat Pancakes
Craig CarlsonA second helping of tales on the joys and challenges of working, eating, and loving in France from the New York Times bestselling author of Pancakes in Paris.Craig C...
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In the Kitchen
Monica AliMonica Ali, nominated for the Man Booker Prize, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Award, has written a followup to Brick Lane that will further...
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Mastering the Art of French Murder
Colleen CambridgeFans of Jacqueline Winspear, Marie Benedict, Nita Prose, and of course, Julia Child, will adore this magnifique new mystery set in Paris and starring Julia Child’s (fictional) best...
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As Always, Julia
Joan ReardonThis revealing correspondence between the legendary French chef Julia Child and her dear friend is “a delicious read” (People).With her outsize personality, Julia Child is known by...
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The Winters in Bloom
Lisa TuckerEvery marriage has three stories: the husband’s, the wife’sand the one they create together.Every marriage has three stories: the husband’s, the wife’sand the one they create toget...
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A Covert Affair
Jennet ConantBestselling author Jennet Conant brings us a stunning account of Julia and Paul Child’s experiences as members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the Far East during Worl...
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Grief Works
Julia Samuel“An honest, practical, as well as emotional guide to working through the processing of mourning” (Vogue.com), Grief Works is a lifeline for all of us dealing with loss and a handbo...
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The Favored Child
Philippa GregoryFrom #1 New York Times bestselling author and “queen of royal fiction” (USA TODAY) Philippa Gregory comes the thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller Wideacre as the once...
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On Food and Cooking
Harold McGeeA kitchen classic for over 35 years, and hailed by Time magazine as "a minor masterpiece" when it first appeared in 1984, On Food and Cooking is the bible which food lovers and pro...
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The Girl Behind the Gates
Brenda DaviesTOP TEN BESTSELLER'Compelling. Poignant. Haunting. Heart wrenching. Just beautiful. Everyone needs to read this wonderful book.' Renita D'Silva, bestselling author of The Forgotte...
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Claiming His Scandalous Love-Child
Julia JamesThe consequence he must claim!Eloise Dean was an innocent in every way, until she met Vito Viscari! The charismatic Italian tycoon swept her off her feet and into his bed, promisin...
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Dearie
Bob SpitzNATIONAL BESTSELLER A"rollicking biography" (People Magazine) and extraordinarily entertaining account of how Julia Child transformed herself into the cult figure who touched...
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Open Kitchen
Susan SpungenSimple, stylish recipes for fearless entertaining from the renowned food stylist, New York Times contributor, and founding food editor of Martha Stewart Living.As a professional re...
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Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2
Julia ChildThe beloved sequel to the bestselling classic, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume II presents more fantastic stepbystep French recipes for home cooks. Working from th...
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The Years That Followed
Catherine DunneAcclaimed international bestseller Catherine Dunne’s thrilling US debut is the story of two wronged women bent on revenge at all costs, and “a pageturner that’s both poignant and s...
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Julia Child
Laura ShapiroAuthor of the forthcoming What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food That Tells Their Stories (Summer 2017)With a swooping voice, an irrepressible sense of humor, and a p...
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Provence, 1970
Luke BarrProvence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Ri...
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My Life in France
Julia Child & Alex Prud'hommeNATIONAL BESTSELLER Julia's story of her transformative years in France in her own words is "captivating ... her marvelously distinctive voice is present on every page.”...
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FORGOTTEN FIANCEE
Lucy GordonTHE WOMAN HE COULDN'T REMEMBERNot long ago, Justin Hallwood had been a harddriving, bigcity executive. Now he was inexplicably drawn to the little village of Havenespecially to Sar...
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Pregnancy After Loss
Zoe Clark-CoatesPregnancy after baby loss can be a scary and isolating experience, a path I know all too well. Zoe has managed to yet again create the ultimate guide and blueprint for anyone navig...
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The United States of Arugula
David KampThe wickedly entertaining, hungerinducing, behindthescenes story of the revolution in American food that has made exotic ingredients, celebrity chefs, rarefied cooking tools, and d...
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The Secret Life of France
Lucy WadhamAt the age of eighteen Lucy Wadham ran away from English boys and into the arms of a Frenchman. Twentyfive years later, having married in a French Catholic Church, put her children...
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Little Red House
Liv AnderssonTwenty years isn’t enough to erase the sins of the pastbut the future is even more terrifying in this thrilling read perfect for fans of Megan Collins and Julia Heaberlin. In 1997,...
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Modern Bistro
America's Test KitchenWhy eat out? Bring home the bistro and make your table the delicious place everyone wants to linger, with more than 150 classic and modern dishes to share.Bistro cooking is intimat...
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Return to Sender
Julia AlvarezAfter Tyler's father is injured in a tractor accident, his family hires migrant Mexican workers to help save their Vermont farm from foreclosure. Tyler isn’ t sure what to make of ...