Lessons in Chemistry

A Novel

eBook, 353 pages

English language

Published July 10, 2022 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

ISBN:
978-0-385-54737-6
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4 stars (8 reviews)

9 editions

Neatly tied together, a little too neat

3 stars

Content warning minor spoilers

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.

"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.

Sheldon Cooper meets Mrs. Maisel

3 stars

I bought this book because I thought it were a realistic depiction of a female scientiest in the later 1950s/early 1960s. It most definitely is NOT anything like that, but it might still be worth a read.

The book follows the life of (fictitious) chemist Elisabeth Zott during the 1950s until 1961. She is pictured as a brillant, but very quirky scientist who is trying to succeed as a woman in academia as well as in personal life. Occasionally, there are time jumps into her past and changes in perspective (most of the time, her boyfriend or her dog), but most of the time the story focuses on Elisabeth. The book is not directly told through her perspective, though, so the reader does not only follow her stream of thoughts, but also people's reaction towards her behavior. Eliabeth's story is probably a story many women in STEM can relate to, …

Subjects

  • Fiction, historical, general
  • Fiction, feminist
  • Single women, fiction
  • Women scientists, fiction
  • Fiction, women