Lessons in Chemistry

What a complete delight!

Here’s the best way I can describe this book:
Imagine a smart, honest, and capable woman with today’s feminist sensibilities. She expects to get into the best schools. She expects to land a good job. She expects to be paid what her male colleagues are paid. And she is not limited by any societal expectations that her ONLY goal in life should be marriage, housework, and motherhood. Then, drop this woman anywhere in 1950s America. And sit back and watch the fun!

With lots of humor and irony (and the surprising wisdom of a SUPER smart dog), author Bonnie Garmus slowly unfolds the world of Elizabeth Zott. A brilliant chemist pitted against the male dominated world of scientific research.

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, show more however, is also a love story. Because Elizabeth winds up working in the same facility where the internationally renowned scientist Calvin Evans works.

Don’t imagine the novel is all fluff, though. Both Elizabeth and Calvin have known tragedy in their backgrounds and experience more in this story. And true to post World War II America, society has a rigid double standard. There are limited opportunities for women. Unjust assumptions and blatant discrimination. Plenty of sexual harassment. Even rape. Enough to infuriate ANY contemporary reader.

But skillfully, Garmus has found just the right balance to make the story an enjoyable read. And if that weren't enough, along the way, she even makes chemistry interesting!

I found myself eager to turn every page, desperate to know how Elizabeth’s life plays out. And whether a happy ending might be possible.

One of the most enjoyable books I’ve read. Ever. Don’t miss it! show less

To start, this has got to be one of the most misleading covers I’ve ever seen. It markets the book as a light-hearted romp. It’s a wonderful book, but it deals with death, assault, sexism, harassment, and other major issues. A chemist faces an uphill battle to be respected in her field in the ‘60s. There is a brilliant dog, a tragic love story, a precocious child, a passion for rowing, a troubled priest, and an unexpected friendship with a neighbor. It reminded me of Frederick Bachman’s books because it takes a minute to get past cold exteriors, but it’s worth it as you get to know the hearts of the characters.

“Losing a loved one has a way of revealing a too-simple truth: that time, as people often claimed but never heeded, show more really was precious.” show less

Lessons in Chemistry is a timely lesson in dealing with the indignation of injustice. Through Elizabeth’s eccentric story—where half the time you’re incensed on her behalf as a female scientist in the 1950s and ‘60s and the other half you’re laughing at the dark, deadpan humor—we learn how to deal with broken systems without becoming broken victims. It’s really a beautiful, zany story about life: challenge and change and courage and chemistry.

This book is everything. Reading it felt like an amalgamation of watching a Wes Anderson film and reading Fredrik Backman’s “Anxious People,” while also being completely original and organic. I laughed; I cried; I felt a gamut of emotions: caustic ire, sorrow, protectiveness, show more joy, hope. It’s all here—all the properties needed for the best kind of chemical reaction: a perfect read.

Here’s just a sampling of what I loved: show less

As a woman who has lived all her life under the height of 5feet, I know well the experience of being underestimated. In school, the guidance counsellor who told my brother he would make a fine doctor told me the best I could hope for was an administrative assistant, though we had the same academic qualifications. People in the 70’s still went to university for an MRS. degree, though that wasn’t my plan.

So I can relate to the experiences Elizabeth Zott has in this delightful book- the being paid less than men in the same job, the lack of belief that I knew what I was talking about, the challenge of parenting when it was something I wasn’t set for. Unfortunately, the battles she fights in this story are being fought in reality show more today, and I often despair as I watch the backlash of anti-female sentiment and loss of rights, shaming and assaults. It’s all still fresh.

I easily identified with the protagonist in this story and cheered her on throughout the trials Garmus puts her through. Seeing her grow through experiences, hold her truth and stand strong- I found myself unable to put the book down, hoping things would work out for this indomitable character and her adoptive family of friends and colleagues.

The book moves right along and although there are tragedies aplenty, there are moments of grace and triumph. Mad, the daughter, is perhaps a bit too advanced for belief, but she’s charming and young-kid intense. And Six-Thirty, the dog, brings in humour and pathos in equal measure, as dogs often do. Elizabeth and Calvin’s relationship made me yearn for one like that myself.

In short, a very fun and involving read and a world I enjoyed living in. show less

Goodreads and other social media have been recommending this book to me for a while, but I looked at the cover and decided I didn't want to read another nerdy rom-com. I enjoy that genre generally, but not enough to grab this one. Then I saw the trailer for the upcoming Apple TV show. Puzzled, I read the blurb and a few reviews. This is where the old saying about "assumptions" showed me I was making a colossal mistake in judging a book by its cover.
Anyway, long story short, I haven't enjoyed a book like this in a very long time. It's more historical fiction about the fifties and sixties as well as women's fiction. Elizabeth is a chemist in the Fifties, though very few think a woman has the mind and ability to be a scientist. The one show more exception is Calvin Evans, a noted chemist in his own right and the man who becomes Elizabeth's soulmate.
This is brilliant writing, wry and poignant in turn. Elizabeth is alone except for Calvin because she's beautiful and intelligent, a deadly combination to men's egos that makes her an unwitting rival to other women who think their only job is to marry and produce children in this era.
The supporting cast is lovely. Mad is perfect in her own unique manner, a genius of a child who sees things more clearly than many adults. Six-Thirty, the dog, has some of the best 'lines' in the book. Harriet, the Catholic neighbor stuck in a dead marriage, becomes Elizabeth and Mad's support line. Every character, good and bad, feels like people I've met in my real life, and it is delightful to see them collected here, contributing to this wonderful story.
I'm old enough to remember the Fifties and Sixties. Ms. Garmus had captured every nuance of the period and sprinkled them like fairy dust over the stories about rowing and early live TV. If this all sounds like an odd combination, believe me, the author makes it all work. Bonnie Garmus has produced a terrific book, and I can't wait for more from her. show less

If your only experience with Garmus' story is through the Apple TV adaptation, please considering reading the book. The adaptation has some interesting changes, but the book is so much better because you're essentially in Zott's head the whole time, which is a wonderful place to be.

The book is decidedly and unapologetically feminist, and that is a good thing. Rare popular fiction books are written from the female perspective that don't apologize for their perspective in some way, or dilute the message. With Zott in the pilot seat, there are no apologies and there is no dilution - just in your face. Garmus creates some solutions to Zott's problems that I suspect females have dreamed about. But the book is also not a complete revisionist show more fantasy - Zott is ensconced in a time when her feminist perspectives do not offer her much ease in life, and Garmus tells it like it is.

5 bones!!!!!
Highly Recommended!!!!! show less

Elizabeth Zott is a famous cooking show host in the 1960s. People love the way she beings cooking to their homes which is quite different from what everybody else does. She explains the chemistry behind the food and the processes she operates in the kitchen because, well, cooking is simply chemistry. But this is not what the mother of 10-year-old Madeline had in mind. She wanted to work in a lab and do serious research. However, she was ahead of her time, women were supposed to marry and take care of the home and children but not taken seriously as scientists. Only Calvin Evans, one of her colleagues who is as passionate about chemistry as Elisabeth, recognises her potential and treats her as an equal. They quickly become much more than show more colleagues. As lovers, they are soulmates and have found the other part they have always missed. Fate, however, had other plans for them.

Bonnie Garmus‘ novel is a rollercoaster of emotions which first and foremost lives from the outstanding protagonist who is unique and exceptional in all respects, a feminist long before the word existed in the common knowledge, stubborn and intelligent at the same time. Life is so unfair to her that I wanted to shout at times, but, on the other hand, “Lessons in Chemistry” also highlights what a change a single person can make.

Elizabeth has chosen a highly misogynist environment, science labs in the 1950s were no places for women, except for the secretaries. Already the idea that she could have an equal - not to speak of a superior - mind as her male colleague seems unimaginable. But not only does she encounter men who look down on her, harassment and even assaults are normal parts of a woman’s professional life. When she encounters Calvin, things seem to have the potential to change, but he, too, despite being a prodigies and highly regarded, cannot influence his colleagues’ attitudes that much.

A female fighter who only briefly after the birth of her daughter goes down, but stands up again. She uses her cooking show to inspire others, to send out her messages ignorant of conventions and the risk of losing her job. She knows that things must change and that women need the same chances as their male colleagues. The fight she has chosen seems unwinnable und futile, but for her, it is worth every setback.

A wonderful novel, funny and tragic, oscillating between the emotional extremes, with amazing female characters who even today can inspire and motivate readers since the battle of equality still has not been won. show less