Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

 

First of all, can we just talk about that COVER ART???

Thank goodness for a book about a woman where the cover is not a vista and her back looking away from us.  Ugh.

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING.  Not at all what I expected.  Garmus does a tremendous job of balancing a very serious topic (the suppression, sexism and yes, abuse, women faced particularly in the 1960's - trigger warning here for one particular scene told in reminiscence - is that a word? It is now) with some of the most amazing banter and hilarity of domestic life you will ever read.  And this was her debut!!!  She said she was inspired by a bad day at work where she herself experienced sexism, and writing this book was a way to reassure her that things were not as bad as in her mother's time, hence the 1960's setting.

Elizabeth Zott is brilliant.  She is a scientist who is "on to something" in her lab, and her boss can't stand that Elizabeth is so much smarter than he is.  He fires her for no good reason, even as she argues with him that what he is doing is unfounded and illegal. 

So, Elizabeth is in need of a new job so she can take care of her daughter.  Elizabeth is very straightforward, all about the facts, and seemed almost unemotional in her determination to make things work.  She lands a new job without even meaning to when a fellow parent who works at a TV station asks her to host a cooking show.  After all, cooking is chemistry, right?

Well, she does it, but she does it HER way, which does not make the producers happy.  But it sure makes the viewers happy and the ratings soar as Elizabeth makes no bones about how cooking should be and how women should live.  This gets her in trouble, but ratings are ratings!!

There is a lot to unpack here as Elizabeth faces her life struggles in the 1960's.  It was painful as a woman of the next century to read about how women in the work force were treated back then.  I am not suggesting everything is equal now, but this story really brings out how little recourse women had back then and how reliant they were forced to be on their husbands or fathers.  Elizabeth is very independent, even when she falls in love with another scientist who respects her, loves her, supports her, and still lies to her.  Well, he does, even if it is just to protect her.  Theirs is a beautiful and happy time together for sure!  But still.  You get my point.  And, there is a little bit of an Owen Meany feel in some of this once we learn about Elizabeth and Calvin's childhoods and events all culminate very unexpectedly and very ironically.  (crytpic, much??? ha, go read it for yourself!)

The ending brings a full circle event that was a bit too far fetched for me from a reality perspective, but I still loved the idea.

I laughed out loud at the name of and viewpoint of the dog (yes, that is what I said!).  I loved that Elizabeth rips out her kitchen to create her own damn lab.  I hated how many instances of lying to women - all of the female characters in this book, including the daughter, were lied to - there were, which was the norm. (is??)  This book will make you mad on one hand, and glad for the progress - so far - on the other.  But mostly, this book will make you root for Elizabeth, as she uses her brain and her knowledge of chemistry in the kitchen to show women all over what they can really do and be.  You go, Mrs. Ellis!!!!!!!!!!!!