A Covert Affair

Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS

De: Jennet Conant

Narrado por: Jan Maxwell

By bestselling author Jennet Conant, a stunning account of Julia Child’s early life as a member of the OSS in the Far East during World War II, and the tumultuous years when she and Paul Child were caught up in the McCarthy witch hunt and behaved with bravery and honor.

Bestselling author Jennet Conant brings us a stunning account of Julia and Paul Child’s experiences as members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the Far East during World War II and the tumultuous years when they were caught up in the McCarthy Red spy hunt in the 1950s and behaved with bravery and honor. It is the fascinating portrait of a group of idealistic men and women who were recruited by the citizen spy service, slapped into uniform, and dispatched to wage political warfare in remote outposts in Ceylon, India, and China.

The eager, inexperienced six foot two inch Julia springs to life in these pages, a gangly golf-playing California girl who had never been farther abroad than Tijuana. Single and thirty years old when she joined the staff of Colonel William Donovan, Julia volunteered to be part of the OSS’s ambitious mission to develop a secret intelligence network across Southeast Asia. Her first post took her to the mountaintop idyll of Kandy, the headquarters of Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, the supreme commander of combined operations. Julia reveled in the glamour and intrigue of her overseas assignment and lifealtering romance with the much older and more sophisticated Paul Child, who took her on trips into the jungle, introduced her to the joys of curry, and insisted on educating both her mind and palate. A painter drafted to build war rooms, Paul was a colorful, complex personality. Conant uses extracts from his letters in which his sharp eye and droll wit capture the day-to-day confusion, excitement, and improbability of being part of a cloak- and-dagger operation.

When Julia and Paul were transferred to Kunming, a rugged outpost at the foot of the Burma Road, they witnessed the chaotic end of the war in China and the beginnings of the Communist revolution that would shake the world. A Covert Affair chronicles their friendship with a brilliant and eccentric array of OSS agents, including Jane Foster, a wealthy, free-spirited artist, and Elizabeth MacDonald, an adventurous young reporter. In Paris after the war, Julia and Paul remained close to their intelligence colleagues as they struggled to start new lives, only to find themselves drawn into a far more terrifying spy drama. Relying on recently unclassified OSS and FBI documents, as well as previously unpublished letters and diaries, Conant vividly depicts a dangerous time in American history, when those who served their country suddenly found themselves called to account for their unpopular opinions and personal relationships.

very detailed

I thought this book was going to focus on Julia and Paul Child but it was more about the OSS and Jane Foster

Interesting, but not really about the Childs

Any additional comments?

I didn't really know anything about the OSS, so I enjoyed learning about the organization and their role in the war. I also really liked the story of the people the author chose to highlight, and the parts about the McCarthy era are disturbing. However, the main subject of the book is the Childs' friend, not Paul & Julia themselves, so the title is a little misleading. I was a little disappointed in this - I picked the book to learn more about this aspect of Julia Child's life. However, I was definitely engrossed by the time I figured this out, so I kept listening!

Deceptive Title-Book Not about Paul & Julia Child

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No, because it wasn't about Julia Child in the OSS.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

It was an interesting account of the 1950's McCarthy witch hunts.
Least interesting was the account of life in Paris.

What does Jan Maxwell bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

French pronunciation.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

A disappointing read. 98 % of the book was about Jane Foster. Paul and Julia were merely footnotes to her story.

The OSS in the far east, The beginnings of CIA

The OSS in the far east included the story of Paul and Julia meeting and service. It also extensively discusses the women Paul called his 3Js ; Jane, Julia and Jean who lead to Paul being called before McCarthy committee.
Wonderful report of Women in service with war and post war goverments.

Could be retitled as The Jane Forster Story

What did you like best about A Covert Affair? What did you like least?

It was not so much about Julia and Paul Child and their relationship with the OSS. The main character is Jane Forster a coworker of Julia in the OSS. In the post war McCarthy era, Jane is suspected to be a communist spy, pursued by the FBI, and indited by the Justice department. I feel that I was tricked into reading the book under the that perhaps it was about undercover operations by Julia. It was definitely not, but I enjoyed reading about Jane.

If you’ve listened to books by Jennet Conant before, how does this one compare?

NA

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Pretty much

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

NO