Book Details
Title:- Lessons in Chemistry
Author:- Bonnie Garmus
Date published:- March 31st 2022
No. of pages:- 392 pages
Genre:- Historical Fiction/Feminism
Rating;-
Plot:- 5/5
Writing:- 5/5
Overall rating:- 5/5
Set in 1960s California, this blockbuster debut is the hilarious, idiosyncratic and uplifting story of a female scientist whose career is constantly derailed by the idea that a woman’s place is in the home, only to find herself starring as the host of America’s most beloved TV cooking show. Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman.
But it’s the 1960s and despite the fact that she is a scientist, her peers are very unscientific when it comes to equality. The only good thing to happen to her on the road to professional fulfillment is a run-in with her super-star colleague Calvin Evans (well, she stole his beakers.) The only man who ever treated her-and her ideas-as equal, Calvin is already a legend and Nobel nominee. He’s also awkward, kind and tenacious. Theirs is true chemistry. But as events are never as predictable as chemical reactions, three years later Elizabeth Zott is an unwed, single mother (did we mention it’s the early 60s??) and the star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s singular approach to cooking (‘take one pint of H2O and add a pinch of sodium chloride’) and independent example are proving revolutionary. Because Elizabeth isn’t just teaching women how to cook, she’s teaching them how to change the status quo. Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.
So this book is already going to be released as a movie (or Tv show?) with Brie Larsson as Elizabeth Zott! While I cannot wait to see the movie, let’s talk about the book.
Elizabeth Zott reminded me of the female version of Sheldon Cooper. It was 1960’s an era where the women’s place is at home. Elizabeth Zott is a chemist, her career often derailed due to the fact that she is a woman. She works at Hastings Research Institute where she meets Calvin Evans, a Noble Price nominee. She and Calvin then live together, adopt a dog named Six-thirty and one day Calvin dies and Elizabeth is pregnant with Calvin’s child. Flash forward, Elizabeth is an unwed single mother to a girl named Madeline and soon, she become a sensation among women when she runs a successful TV show named Supper at Six.
I actually enjoyed reading this book. There were some funny parts that will make you laugh out loud, the writing was really great and engaging and I like how the concepts of chemistry was used in the concepts of cooking (add sodium chloride or add H20). The fact that Elizabeth Zott is combining chemistry with cooking was kind of fascinating to read. I also like Elizabeth’s character–her character is blunt, no-nonsense type who believed that women should be treated equally. I also like how Elizabeth befriends her neighbor Harriet and the TV show producer Walter and how she was a good friend to both of them. Overall, if you are someone who like a science setting in the book (not science fiction) I recommend this book to you all–worth five stars!
Bonnie Garmus is a copywriter and creative director who’s worked widely in the fields of technology, medicine, and education. She’s an open-water swimmer, a rower, and mother to two pretty amazing daughters. Born in California and most recently from Seattle, she currently lives in London with her husband and her dog, 99.
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