Includes bibliographical references (p. [363]-374) and index.

Special inquiry -- Initiation -- Late start -- A fine sort -- Instant fame -- The great white queen of Bali -- Chickens coming home to roost -- Whispers in the willow trees -- Incurable romantics -- Open season -- The nightmare -- The taste of ashes -- Epilogue -- Appendix.

Julia Child's passion for French cuisine began when she and her husband, Paul, moved to Paris in 1948. The couple met in Ceylon in 1944 when both were in the Office of Strategic Services, precursor to the CIA, and they married two years later. To tell their story, Conant (The Irregulars) combed through numerous archives to fill in the deep backgrounds of their OSS friends. Opening with OSS origins and the 1943 OSS recruits, the narrative follows the WWII trajectory of Julia Child, who volunteered for a post at the OSS base in India. At Mountbatten's mountaintop headquarters, the team included Julia, Paul, and the flamboyant Jane Foster. With the end of WWII, Jane flew to Java to record the war crimes testimonies of American POWs, while Paul and Julia's romance heated up in China and France.

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