Many readers come to Julia Child’s My Life in France via the 2009 film Julie and Julia, as it’s one of the books on which the film was based. However, her story is always energizing for home cooks aspiring to follow her gastronomic path to success. In this lovely memoir, co-authored with her grandnephew, Alex Prud’homme, she details not only her discovery of food, cooking and domestic bliss, but her relationship with the love of her life —the man she credits for making her a household name — Paul Child. Covering their years in France, from Paul’s USIS assignment in 1948 to when she closed their home in Provence in 1992, she not only recounts her stint as the lone female at the famed Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, the lengthy and arduous co-production of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and her enchantment with all things française, but her long and loyal partnership with the man who devoted his life to helping her bring continental cooking to American kitchens. Filled with Paul’s marvelous photos and Julia’s familiar, witty, and unpretentious banter, this is the perfect memoir.