This is another book I heard about on NPR. I loved the movie Julie & Julia, and it really gave me my first information on the Childs' life before she was a famous chef. I do think the book's title is misleading. My theory is that the author wanted to write a book about McCarthyism and anti-communist witch hunts targeting OSS agents active in the Far East during World War II, and specifically about a colleague of the Childs' from that time. The book feels like she pitched that to an editor and they said, no, not enough interest for a book there. I imagine her telling the editor "But Paul and Julia Child were there, and he was questioned about communist ties." I see the editor's ears perk up, and him telling her to put THAT in her book. Like Lost in Shangri-la, the book opens a window on life during World War II, especially women and how they participated in non-military roles in the Pacific and Asia. I'm glad I read two WWII books that dealt with the Pacific and Asia theaters because I was sorely uneducated in that area. The book also functions as a nice chronicle of the Childs' meeting, friendship, eventual courtship and life together. (I just think that should be an aside, not a subtitle!)
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