
The Secret War of Julia Child
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Candace Joice
About this listen
Before she mastered the art of French cooking in midlife, Julia Child found herself working in the secrets trade in Asia during World War II, a journey that will delight both historical fiction fans and lovers of America's most beloved chef, revealing how the war made her into the icon we know now.
Single, six foot two, and thirty years old, Julia McWilliams took a job working for America's first espionage agency, years before cooking or Paris entered the picture. The Secret War of Julia Child traces Julia's transformation from ambitious Pasadena blue blood to Washington, DC file clerk, to head of General "Wild Bill" Donovan's secret File Registry as part of the Office of Strategic Services.
The wartime journey takes her to South Asia's remote front lines of then-Ceylon, India, and China, where she finds purpose, adventure, self-knowledge-and love with mapmaker Paul Child. The spotlight has rarely shone on this fascinating period of time in the life of ("I'm not a spy") Julia Child, and this lyrical story allows us to explore the unlikely world of a woman in a World War II spy station who has no idea of the impact she'll eventually impart.
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- By: Rachel Burton
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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No one is more surprised than Meredith when she’s bequeathed a cottage by a great aunt she’d never heard of. She hopes, briefly, that the inheritance could be the answer to her financial problems. But when she arrives in Suffolk, she is shocked to discover a man is already living there. A young gardener, who claims he was also bequeathed half of Butterfly Cottage. As the pair try to unravel their complicated situation, they unearth a decades old mystery involving Clara, the garden, and a stack of letters left unread for over 50 years.
By: Rachel Burton
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The Woman with No Name
- By: Audrey Blake
- Narrated by: Amy Scanlon
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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She'll light the fire of resistance—but she may get burned … 1942. Though she survived the bomb that destroyed her home, Yvonne Rudellat’s life is over. She’s estranged from her husband, her daughter is busy with war work, and Yvonne—older, diminutive, overlooked—has lost all purpose. Until she’s offered a chance to remake herself entirely …
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You can’t judge a book by its cover. Never truer!
- By paula wright on 04-18-24
By: Audrey Blake
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The Colony Club
- A Novel
- By: Shelley Noble
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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When young Gilded Age society matron Daisy Harriman is refused a room at the Waldorf because they don’t cater to unaccompanied females, she takes matters into her own hands. She establishes the Colony Club, the first women’s club in Manhattan, where visiting women can stay overnight and dine with their friends; where they can discuss new ideas, take on social issues, and make their voices heard. She hires the most sought-after architect in New York, Stanford White, to design the clubhouse.
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Nicely done!
- By Kristyn Rose on 02-02-25
By: Shelley Noble
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The Sunflower House
- A Novel
- By: Adriana Allegri
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik, Dallin Bradford, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In a sleepy German village, Allina Strauss’s life seems idyllic: she works at her uncle’s bookshop, makes strudel with her aunt, and spends weekends with her friends and fiancé. But it's 1939, Adolf Hitler is Chancellor, and Allina’s family hides a terrifying secret—her birth mother was Jewish, making her a Mischling. One fateful night after losing everyone she loves, Allina is forced into service as a nurse at a state-run baby factory called Hochland Home. There, she becomes both witness and participant to the horrors of Heinrich Himmler’s ruthless eugenics program.
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Great book!
- By Lisa Daak on 05-24-25
By: Adriana Allegri
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A Time for Defiance
- By: James D. Shipman
- Narrated by: Stephanie Einstein
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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May 1940: In the months since the war in Europe began, nineteen-year-old Aafke Cruyssen and her family have tried to carry on as normal—running their modest grocery store in Eindhoven, hoping that Germany will leave Holland alone as it did during the Great War. But this time, Holland will not be spared. The invasion comes, swift and merciless, and Dutch forces are easily overpowered. Aafke's one glimpse of humanity comes from a young German corporal who intervenes when a gang of looters tries to rob her family's shop.
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Another country’s viewpoint of WWII
- By Roger D Bartlett on 01-10-25
By: James D. Shipman
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The Children's Train
- A Novel
- By: Viola Ardone
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on true events, a heartbreaking story of love, family, hope, and survival set in post-World War II Italy - crafted with the heart of Orphan Train and Before We Were Yours - about poor children from the south sent to live with families in the north to survive deprivation and the harsh winters.
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Great read
- By kc on 01-19-23
By: Viola Ardone
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The Thirteenth Husband
- By: Greer Macallister
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Tearing through millions of dollars, four continents, and a hearty collection of husbands, real-life heiress Aimée Crocker blazed an unbelievable trail of public notoriety, private pain, and the kind of strong independent woman the 1880s had never seen. Her life was stranger than fiction and brighter than the stars, and she whirled through her days as if she was being chased. Greer Macallister brilliantly takes us into a world you won’t soon forget.
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Unbelievable but compelling listen!
- By Reading Grandma on 09-27-24
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Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
- By: Evan S. Connell
- Narrated by: Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Abridged
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For Walter Bridge, an ambitious lawyer, and his wife, whose focus is her household, affluence and material comforts create a cocoon of community respectability that cloaks the void within. Mr. Bridge is dominated by reason and common sense but is vaguely aware that something is missing from his life. Mrs. Bridge, now that her children have grown up, is slowly going mad from boredom. They wonder why there is no joy. As adventurous, free-thinking friends introduce new ideas into their household, they come close to making tiny steps toward change.
By: Evan S. Connell
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Fleeing France
- A WWII Novel of Sacrifice and Rescue in the French Ambulance Service
- By: Alan Hlad
- Narrated by: Moniqua Plante
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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France, 1939: A talented singer, Ruth Lacroix has left Maine to live with her aunt and uncle, dreaming of performing at the Casino de Paris. But with the outbreak of war, and the heartbreaking news that her cousin has been killed by German forces, that goal is supplanted by another—to support France in any way she can.
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Very good WWII resistance tale, but girly in places
- By YodaMaster on 12-14-24
By: Alan Hlad
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The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson
- A Novel
- By: Ellen Baker
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1924, four-year-old Cecily Larson’s mother reluctantly drops her off at an orphanage in Chicago, promising to be back once she’s made enough money to support both Cecily and herself. But she never returns, and shortly after high-spirited Cecily turns seven, she is sold to a traveling circus to perform as the “little sister” to glamorous bareback rider Isabelle DuMonde. With Isabelle and the rest of the circus, Cecily finally feels she’s found the family she craves.
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Interesting story took a while to get into.
- By Kayla B on 03-13-24
By: Ellen Baker
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Katharine's Remarkable Road Trip
- By: Gail Ward Olmsted
- Narrated by: Lisa Bozek
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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If you loved Landscape of a Marriage by Gail Ward Olmsted, you'll absolutely adore Katharine's Remarkable Road Trip. In the fall of 1907, Katharine decides to drive from Newport, Rhode Island to her new home in Jackson, New Hampshire. Despite the concerns of her family and friends that at the age of 77 she lacks the stamina for the nearly 300-mile journey, Katharine sets out alone. Over the next six days, she receives a marriage proposal, pulls an all-nighter, saves a life or two, crashes a high-society event, meets a kindred spirit, faces a former rival, makes a new friend, takes a stroll with a future movie mogul, advises a troubled newlywed, and reflects upon a life well lived: her own!
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A Very Remarkable Woman
- By BonnieD on 06-25-24
Drama of Julia
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Great book! Very entertaining!
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Excellent in every aspect!
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The pace of the novel itself works really well, giving us a feel for time and place, and the author has a knack at providing just enough detail to make characters instantly likable, perhaps Julie most of all. She’s smart, witty, and compassionate. The audiobook narrator brings Julie’s joviality to life in dialogues with other characters, which is easy to appreciate. One detractor though is that the narrator is a slow reader, and I found myself speeding it up in .05 increments. By the end, I was at 1.25.
In the afterward, the author provides an overview of her research and sources, including the travel to India and China. I wish she’d have created a fictional character to represent this amazing time and story. The dramatic irony of knowing who Paul and Julie will become to each other is cute, but her continual narrow escapes from certain death took away from the depth that could have been achieved if the spotlight had been on the real events in India and China themselves rather than shallowly placed on a larger-than-life, real person who lived a post-war life in the spotlight.
A little too bland for my palate
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Remember, this is fiction
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Early Julia Child
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Fascinating, delightful book about one of my favorite historical figures.
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Julia Child, more amazing than ever
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Don’t pass this up!
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Maybe if I didn’t remember the real Julia so well I could’ve gotten more into this confabulation but, a good deal of this story just seemed wrong and, for me, felt weird.
Too soon…
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