Covert Affair Julia Child & Paul Child in the OSS

Bestselling author Jennet Conant brings us a stunning account of Julia and Paul Childand#8217;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. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The eager, inexperienced 6 foot 2 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 OSSand#8217;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. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;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. andlt;Iandgt;A Covert Affair andlt;/Iandgt;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 Relying on recently unclassified OSS and FBI documents, as well as previously unpublished letters and diaries, Conant vividly depicts a dangerous time in American history, when those who served their country suddenly found themselves called to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.

Praise for A Covert Affair

“Jennet Conant’s A Covert Affair is an absolutely top-class work of the true-spy genre; elegantly written, authentic, exceptionally sophisticated, and not at all what you might expect of a book with a picture of Julia Child on the cover. This ain’t about cooking.”

--Alan Furst, author of Spies of the Balkans "Conant's vivid tapestry of the 1940s skillfully interweaves interviews, oral histories, memoirs, and recently unclassified OSS and FBI documents with unpublished diaries and letters. The adventurous young OSS recruits spring to life throughout this meticulously researched, authoritative history."

--Publishers Weekly Praise for The Irregulars

“What critics praise most in Jennet Conant’s The Irregulars is the quality that is becoming the author’s signature knack: her ability to show how a seemingly obscure group of characters personifies the mood of a time and place and exercises more influence than one might expect…. Expert writing and research. ”

--Booklist “What more could you want from a book? Here is a discussion of propaganda and covert actions written with text-book clarity. Salacious gossip about the upper circles of Washington’s political and media community. A writing style that has one racing from page to page, eager to soak in more details. I thump my desk with glee over Jennet Conant’s The Irregulars…. A truly fascinating book.”

--Joseph C. Goulden, The Washington Times “As was true of her excellent first book, Tuxedo Park, in The Irregulars [Conant] removes the dust of history. … Entertaining and instructive.”

--Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post “Exhaustively researched and vividly written…. Conant vividly captures the personalities.”

--Boston Globe “A thoroughly engrossing story, one Conant tells exceptionally well.”

--Publishers Weekly (starred review) Praise for Tuxedo Park

“Remarkable and remarkably told, as if F. Scott Fitzgerald had penned Batman.”

--Kirkus (starred review) “A must read for all fans of World War II history. It will captivate. ”

--Businessweek “Fascinating.”

--The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Conant has written a book full of fascinating material about wartime and postwar America and how they intersected....Conant doesn't disappoint in her picture of the whirlwind life of the OSS, created very much in the image of its founder, the maverick William J. Donovan. Her glimpses of how he overcame bureaucratic rivalries and turf wars are as exciting as her picture of life in the field, complete with dengue fever, cobras and scorpions.” —Los Angeles Times

"A Covert Affair is a skillfully told tale of espionage, combining just enough background information with the right amount of boisterous anecdote to make the reader feel simultaneously amused and informed.” —Salon.com

"The value of Conant's anecdotal approach is... in its depiction of ordinary relationships in extraordinary circumstances--of the way friendships, feuds and romances develop in strange and secretive settings." —The New York Times Book Review

“Thoroughly researched, fluid and compelling” —Kirkus

“A well-researched, entertaining, and fast-paced read” —Library Journal

“It is a wallop of a story, people engaging in the sorts of international dangers that is the stuff of the movies… all jungles and cities and intrigue and risk, with an exquisite attention to detail that illuminates the OSS and its players.” —Portland Oregonian

“A brilliantly researched and written account… a well-researched and well-written account of this period in American history….Conant, a terrific writer, conducted voluminous research and crafted a fascinating story that reads as though she was actually there.” —The Seattle Times

Praise for A Covert Affair

"Jennet Conant's A Covert Affair

"Conant's vivid tapestry of the 1940s skillfully interweaves interviews, oral histories, memoirs, and recently unclassified OSS and FBI documents with unpublished diaries and letters. The adventurous young OSS recruits spring to life throughout this meticulously researched, authoritative history."andlt;BRandgt; --andlt;Iandgt;Publishers Weeklyandlt;/Iandgt;

Praise for andlt;iandgt;The Irregularsandlt;/iandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;iandgt; andlt;/iandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;and#8220;What critics praise most in Jennet Conantand#8217;s andlt;iandgt;The Irregulars andlt;/iandgt;is the quality that is becoming the authorand#8217;s signature knack: her ability to show how a seemingly obscure group of characters personifies the mood of a time and place and exercisesandlt;a name="_GoBack"andgt;andlt;/aandgt; more influence than one might expectand#8230;. Expert writing and research. and#8221;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;iandgt;--Booklistandlt;/iandgt;

and#8220;What more could you want from a book? Here is a discussion of propaganda and covert actions written with text-book clarity. Salacious gossip about the upper circles of Washingtonand#8217;s political and media community. A writing style that has one racing from page to page, eager to soak in more details. I thump my desk with glee over Jennet Conantand#8217;s andlt;iandgt;The Irregularsandlt;/iandgt;and#8230;. A truly fascinating book.and#8221;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; --Joseph C. Goulden, andlt;iandgt;The Washington Timesandlt;/iandgt;

and#8220;As was true of her excellent first book, andlt;iandgt;Tuxedo Park,andlt;/iandgt; in andlt;iandgt;The Irregularsandlt;/iandgt; [Conant] removes the dust of history. and#8230; Entertaining and instructive.and#8221;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; --Jonathan Yardley, andlt;iandgt;The Washington Postandlt;/iandgt;

"Exhaustively researched and vividly written.... Conant vividly captures the personalities."

--Boston Globe

and#8220;A thoroughly engrossing story, one Conant tells exceptionally well.and#8221; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;iandgt;--Publishers Weeklyandlt;/iandgt; (starred review)

Praise for Tuxedo Park

"Remarkable and remarkably told, as if F. Scott Fitzgerald had penned Batman."

and#8220;A must read for all fans of World War II history. It will captivate. and#8221;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;iandgt;--Businessweek andlt;/iandgt;

"Fascinating."

--The Philadelphia Inquirer

andlt;divandgt;andlt;bandgt;Praise for andlt;Iandgt;A Covert Affairandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;

"Jennet Conant's A Covert Affair

andlt;bandgt;Praise for andlt;Iandgt;A Covert Affairandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; and#8220;Jennet Conantand#8217;s Aandlt;iandgt; Covert Affair andlt;/iandgt;is an absolutely top-class work of the true-spy genre; elegantly written, authentic, exceptionally sophisticated, and not at all what you might expect of a book with a picture of Julia Child on the cover. This ainand#8217;t about cooking.and#8221;andlt;/bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;bandgt; --Alan Furst, author of andlt;iandgt;Spies of the Balkansandlt;/iandgt;andlt;/bandgt;

and#8220;Exhaustively researched and vividly writtenand#8230;. Conant vividly captures the personalities.and#8221;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;iandgt;--Boston Globeandlt;/iandgt;

Praise for andlt;iandgt;Tuxedo Parkandlt;/iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;and#8220;Remarkable and remarkably told, as if F. Scott Fitzgerald had penned andlt;iandgt;Batmanandlt;/iandgt;.and#8221; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;iandgt;--Kirkus andlt;/iandgt;(starred review)

and#8220;Fascinating.and#8221;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;iandgt;--The Philadelphia Inquirerandlt;/iandgt;

"It is 1954, and as he has for the past dozen years, Paul Child is designing war rooms for the Foreign Service, often in exotic locales, currently in Bonn, a German city of industrial complexes and teeming with American soldiers behaving badly.

'Woe -- how did we get here?' his wife, Julia, whom Paul met in 1943 when they were both members of the Office of Strategic Services stationed in Ceylon, scribbles in her diary. She is not happy to have left Paris and Marseilles and her blossoming career as a cooking teacher. But the Childs go where the government tells them to, including, for Paul, to Washington D.C., for a series of queasy interviews. As he telegraphs Julia, 'SITUATION HERE LIKE KAFKA STORY.'" Nancy Rommelmann, The Oregonian (Read the entire Oregonian review)

By bestselling author Jenny Conant, a stunning account of Julia Child’s early life as an OSS agent in the Far East.

andlt;Bandgt;Jennet Conantandlt;/Bandgt; is the author of the andlt;iandgt;New York Timesandlt;/iandgt; bestsellersandnbsp;andlt;iandgt;The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washingtonandlt;/iandgt;andnbsp;andandnbsp;andlt;iandgt;Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II.andlt;/iandgt; A former journalist, she has written for andlt;iandgt;Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, Newsweek,andlt;/iandgt; and andlt;iandgt;The New York Times.andlt;/iandgt; She lives in New York City and Sag Harbor, New York.