Lessons in Chemistry

A Novel

by Bonnie Garmus

400 pages

English language

Published July 10, 2022 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

ISBN:: 978-0-385-54734-5
OCLC Number:: 1240265659

(7 reviews)

Chemist 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 early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to …

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.

9 editions

Phil in SF reviewed Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Neatly tied together, a little too neat

3 stars

Content warning minor spoilers

What if you took a very modern female chemist who expects everyone to treat her based on her brains, skills, and accomplishments and dropped her in a misogynist chemistry lab in the late 1950s/early 1960s. Rather than go along to get along she is blunt, direct, and uncompromising. Things go about as well as you would expect for an unmarried mother who challenges the powers that be and the status quo.

I'm guessing a lot of people will love this book because Elizabeth Zott is uncompromising and fights the good fight. It wasn't enough for me, and I bounced off the first half of the book because it is really slow, setting up the character and situation with a litany of sexism.

But I think the part that got me the most was that the setup felt too constructed. For example, a secretary from Zott's employment becomes the typist for a minister who just so happened to have been a pen pal of Zott's former love. Everything was just too neatly tied together.

KnitAFett reviewed Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Decent

4 stars

3.5, rounded up.

Overall found this to be enjoyable.

Definite trigger warnings for sexual assault, though.

I've seen quite some negativity about the book being toted as a comedy, lighthearted, etc. This didn't have any impact on me before reading as I go into every book as blind as I can.

I did have a hard time with believing that the characters in this world are from the 60's with the extreme progressive attitude towards women's rights and being non-religious. Every time something from the time frame was mentioned (i.e. black & white tvs), it threw me for a bit of a loop. Took away from the overall vibe I was getting from the book.

Is it one I will buy and keep on my shelf? No. Am I mad that I read it? No.

Rainer reviewed Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

"Fun Summer Read" meets dramatic and poignant feminist tale

4 stars

This book was fun and also inspirational. I didn't really have many expectations when I started it, but I liked the characters. Don't really have too much to say about it other than it had some great things to say about gender equality and also a really awesome canine character.

Also, readers should be aware that there is at least one and a half scenes in this book that depict sexual violence.