“Julia’s Child” by Sarah Pinneo is a delightful novel that blends food, family, and entrepreneurship. The story follows Julia Bailey, a stay-at-home mom with a passion for cooking, who starts a business making organic baby food. With the help of her friends and family, Julia navigates the challenges of starting a business, from sourcing ingredients to marketing her products. Along the way, she discovers her own strength and creativity, all while juggling the demands of motherhood and marriage. “Julia’s Child” is a heartwarming tale about following your dreams and the power of good food to bring people together.
Julia’s Child A Novel Review
Julia’s Child a Novel is a book that I really enjoyed reading. I found myself in some instances reflective of the main character, Julia Bailey, who is a nutrition-obsessed former Wall-Streeter with two small boys.
She’s running an organic baby and toddler food company named, “Julia’s Child” out of a shared kitchen in Brooklyn with one full-time employee, Marta who’s a single mom and just off welfare. She’s juggling her business, cooking food, making executive decisions and trying to keep the climate control on her business partner’s needs with her home life with two young sons, a supportive husband, Luke, a babysitter, Bonnie, and neighbor who wants to ban Julia’s boys from the community playroom!
It’s when Julia appears on a morning show with Julia’s Child’s “Muffets” that an amazing opportunity presents itself with Whole Foods. The hours stretch on and on for Julia and Marta, and Julia is left trying to decide what is most important to her and find a balance between her own needs and those of everyone else in her life.
It’s a book that any mom can relate too. The need for balance between our personal lives and our working lives is a constant struggle. Women feel guilt for not being able to attend school performances or missing a night-time tuck in due to a late night trying to meet a deadline. The pressure mounts when the children can state how much they need a mom. The balance of time whether it’s an organic food company, an executive job or running a blog is a tough one to manage.
I think Sarah Pinneo did an excellent job in creating believable characters. There is great diversity in each of the characters making it easy for me to relate to different people in my own life. The kiddos were outstanding characters and added comedy to the mix of madness, just like my own do.
Pinneo is a descriptive writer that whether it was the detail about where Julia was or was going or the interactions of characters, it made me feel like I was there, witnessing the story as it unfolded. I love that in a book. To make the organic food industry even more tangible to the readers, Pinneo includes recipes that I’m looking forward to trying. Check out her “Sure Thing” Pasta with Peas and Ham Recipe.
While I did enjoy the book, I was left wondering what happened to some of the characters introduced halfway through the story? The time frame seemed a little off for me with Julia growing up through the 1970s, like me, but then it seems like she was in her mid-30s. The book also seemed to end with some of the story being incomplete.
The book still was a fun read and, while I feel Pinneo projected an incredibly unreal amount of stress on to Julia, it does a great job of depicting the life of working moms. It’s a book I recommend. I love the fast pace!
About the Book:
A delectable comedy for every woman who’s ever wondered if buying that six-dollar box of organic crackers makes her a hero or a sucker.
Julia Bailey is a mompreneur with too many principles and too little time. Her fledgling company, Julia’s Child, makes organic toddler meals with names like Gentle Lentil and Give Peas a Chance. But before she can realize her dream of seeing them on the shelves of Whole Foods, she will have to make peace between her professional aspirations and her toughest food critics: the two little boys waiting at home. Is it possible to save the world while turning a profit?
Julia’s Child is a warmhearted, laugh-out-loud story about motherhood’s choices: organic vs. local, paper vs. plastic, staying at home vs. risking it all.
*I received Julia’s Child through Penguin and KMSPR in order to facilitate an honest review. The opinions, where expressed are my own and were in no way influenced by the sponsor. Others experiences may vary.