The French Kitchen
1943. Kat Harris is working in her late father’s auto shop and barely speaking to her mother, who had left her father for a wealthy man years ago. When her brother Gavin decides to join the military, and then disappears, Kat’s life is changed forever. She is determined to find him and joins the OSS, the precursor to the CIA, hoping to use their resources to locate Gavin. Chef Manon Altier is head chef in a famous restaurant frequented by Nazis, but is also assisting the French resistance at night. Then she meets Kat, who is working undercover in her kitchen.
1952. Kat Fontaine, mired in a marriage of convenience, is navigating post-war Paris and still trying to find Gavin. Then she ends up in a cooking class taught by Julia Child, an American with a Cordon-Bleu education and an OSS past. It is in this class that Kat begins to discover secrets from her time working with the French Resistance.
When I first started this book, I thought Julia Child would be the star. Instead, Kat Harris/Fontaine easily commands this story. Kat, an independent, talented, and strong woman, is easy to connect with. Julia Child is a solid supporting character, but Manon Altier shines in that role as well. The overall novel is riveting, but the reader may find it hard to navigate the jumps in time between 1943/44 and 1952/53, as well as the point of view changes, because they occur so often. I had to look back at previous pages several times to keep the story straight. That said, the novel is full of suspense, intrigue, and heartbreak, while at the same time weaving espionage, French cooking, and the French resistance into a story that will stay with the reader for a long time. Recommended.
