The French Kitchen + Giveaway

As Paris rebuilds in the aftermath of World War II, one ex-pat uses the skills she learned in French kitchens during the war to bring long-held secrets to light.

Paris, 1952 — An ex-pat wife living in Paris signs up for a cookery class taught by an American chef with an indomitable wit and decidedly French airs–an instructor by name of Julia Child. Amongst classes of the L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes, with pots and pans and prim Paris wives learning to sauté in the French way, Kat Fontaine learns much more than she bargained for.

Still haunted by the years she spent serving in the American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during WWII, Kat soon finds a simple cookery class unearths the tangle of gut-wrenching memories of war and questions about the high-ranking society husband whose past is as murky as her own. But when the puzzle pieces start to come together–and her carefully crafted Paris world begins to fall apart–Kat must confront her own secrets against the mounting suspicions of the husband she thought she knew . . .

Rue, 1943 — Deep in the heart of Nazi-controlled northern France, Manon Altier shifts between working for the enemy by day–as a French chef at the famous Château du Broutel, where names like Himmler, Rommel, and Goebbels frequent the guest list–and running with underground networks against the Vichy regime at night. Working undercover to filter information to agents within the burgeoning OSS, Manon digs deep into the glitz and glamour of a Nazi stronghold that has her teetering on the edge of being discovered at any turn. But when an intriguing stranger appears at the chateau claiming to work with the French Resistance, Manon must lean on her instincts to judge whether to run and hide or stand firm–even as a terrifying discovery tests her resolve to continue the fight.

From the heights of culinary cuisine in 1950s Paris society to the underbelly of a WWII spy network embedded deep within Nazi-controlled Vichy France–and the spy backstory of the world’s most famous would-be French chef, Julia Child–The French Kitchen turns up the heat on the pasts of women whose worlds collide, and forces each to question what she thought she’d planned for a perfect future.

My Review:

I’m always a little gobsmacked and ferhoodled after reading one of Kristy Cambron’s dual timeline novels. How on earth does she manage to weave so many story threads together and keep everything straight? I’m in awe!

The start of the ‘The French Kitchen’ drops us right into the middle of a tense (understatement) resistance fighting scene in 1943 and leaves us hanging at a particularly precarious point. Then we’re whisked away on a breathtaking whirlwind of scenes both before that pivotal moment and then nearly ten years afterwards. Completely riveting and emotionally whiplashing!

Love the inclusion of Julia Child in the 1950s timeline. I haven’t read many novels that explore post-war Europe and I found the complexities of that time in France so fascinating. The author does an amazing job of bringing Paris to vibrant life through rich descriptive storytelling. And she kept me riveted (and my emotions in tatters) all the way to the end. Just…stunning!

I listened to the audio edition narrated by Saskia Maarleveld and, whoa, her performance elevated my ‘reading’ enjoyment so much! She captured the essence of every character, including accents, while conveying the emotional depth of the story to absolute perfection. Highly recommend giving the audio edition a try.

My thanks to Thomas Nelson, Zondervan Fiction Audio and Net Galley for providing me with an audio edition of this book.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

US – ebook copy

Canada – ebook or audible — winner’s choice

International – ebook copy if you have a US Kindle account.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The French Kitchen,  leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday August 2 2025

30 thoughts on “The French Kitchen + Giveaway”

  7. Another good historical from Cambron, based on your interesting review. Of the top of my head – Julia, Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, etc. were or became well known names heavily involved in the war effort.

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    1. I didn’t know about Marlene Dietrich. That’s interesting. I just learned about Audrey Hepburn’s involvement with the resistance a few years ago. Such a fascinating woman. And yes, Julia Child’s war history was interesting. 🙂 As is our heroine’s. 🙂 Good luck, CC!

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  8. I always enjoy reading Kristy Cambron’s novels. It is a little hard at times to keep all the story/timelines straight but it’s well worth the trouble.

    pmkellogg56[at]gmail[dot]com

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    1. Yes, I had to keep alert at the start of the story especially because I was listening to it so I couldn’t check back on dates but this one isn’t as convoluted as some of her others so it didn’t take me long to get into the swing of things. 🙂 Good luck, Pam!

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  9. What a stunning cover, and equally intriguing plot(s)! I love reading dual time lines stories, and from your review, Kav, it sounds like Kristy Cambron has delivered another awesome book! I look forward to reading it!

    Alison Boss
    nj(dot)bossman(at)gmail(dot)com

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  11. Can you believe that I haven’t read one single book by Kristy?? I thought I had, but I looked up all the ones she’s written & discovered I have not. Wow….anyway, I love the sound of this, especially the Julia Child angle. So fascinating!

    teamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  12. I love Christy Cambron and haven’t read one of hers in a while.  I know little about Julia Child other than her cooking prowess, so it should be interesting.

    perrianne (DOT) askew (AT) me (DOT) com

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