Book: My Life in France by Julia Child
My Life in France 
by Julia Child
For people from my generation, you probably vaguely remember watching Julia Child on PBS as a kid. You’ll probably remember her Muppet-like voice and the fact that she cooked food that probably didn’t look remotely appetizing at the time.
Now, all these years later, lots of folks have been reacquainted with Mrs. Child thanks to a blogger turned book writer named Julie Powell. There was a blog, a book and eventually a movie. And, soon after seeing the movie, I went out and bought My Life in France because I was so inspired by how hard Julia worked and how certain she was that she loved the man she loved and she was meant for the work she found. She seemed to have such an unfailing confidence about her and that, to me, is just beyond fascinating.
My Life in France chronicles Julia’s life mostly from the time she and her husband moved to France for his job. And, if you didn’t love food before you read this book, you will after. Her passion for sauces and breads and shopping for food is so palatable. Because of her fervor for food and the way that comes across on paper, you can almost taste the way her food would taste in that moment.
And while I adore reading about food, the real take-away of this book for me was Julia’s passion and drive. Her relentless optimism and assuredness about the food she made and the need she had to share that passion with everyone else. Not to mention the fact that she had been at a loss as to what she wanted to do with her life until the age of 37. But, the moment she found her thing, she found it with every bone in her being and she pushed forward and never stopped.
What incredible lessons to learn! If you’re in need of something to get you inspired or to keep you going when you’ve hit a bump in the road, I’d recommend giving My Life in France a read.
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I may have to give this a read. I love that she didn’t find her passion until 37 – it gives me hope that there’s still time for me to figure things out and make them happen. I didn’t read Julie Powell’s book and I’ll admit to tuning a lot of her part out of the movie but the Julia parts were just fascinating. It sounds like this book would also interest me.
I think that was the most inspiring part of her story for me. Well, that and how hard she worked once she found the thing she was most passionate about. I really identified with her in a lot of ways and hope I find the thing(s) that make me as passionate and committed as she was to food and sharing her knowledge with others.