Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lessons in Chemistry was so much better than I anticipated, even after hearing it so lauded by so many readers. I blame this partly on the cover. While very cute, it doesn’t do justice to the story it contains, conveying something similar in feel to a rom-com instead of what the cover truly hides, which is an empowering historical fiction novel that is by turns heart-wrenching and hilarious. And always, always, so smart. This is a feminist manifesto of the highest, most egalitarian caliber, while also telling a wonderfully compelling story with even more compelling characters.

When we meet Elizabeth Zott in 1961, she is a single mother and the host of the cooking show that has taken America by storm. She’s incredibly famous, and she hates every single minute of it. You see, Elizabeth is not a television personality; she’s a chemist, and she hates where she’s ended up. From there, we journey a few years into her past and she how she ended up a household name, largely against her will. We witness her rise and fall in the male-dominated scientific world of the 1950s, as she does her best to stand against the patriarchy and sexism that define every layer of America at that time. She will not be silenced. She will not be shoved into a corner. She is more than her looks or her sex. She is a scientist, and she will stop at nothing to have herself and her work taken seriously.

So how did such a staunchly independent, career-minded woman end up as a single mother in a time when pregnancy was the death sentence to any woman’s career? That’s one of the main driving forces of the book. Where Elizabeth could have been bitter toward the child who cost her so much, she was incredibly loving instead. I was shocked by how wonderful a mother she turned out to be, but I shouldn’t have been. The even larger narrative of this book is that women contain multitudes, and are so much more capable than they were viewed in Elizabeth’s era or any time period before or since.

While Elizabeth might have felt trapped or resentful of her unexpected culinary career in the limelight, she definitely made the most of it. She never gave in to the pressures to look or act in any way that wasn’t true to herself. Which meant that her cooking show was far more scientific in nature than anything the public had ever experienced. Instead of being found boring, Elizabeth’s approach sparked something of a cultural revolution.

Aside from Elizabeth, who was a phenomenal lead, we had a plethora of other fun and well fleshed-out characters. Mad, Elizabeth’s daughter, was a precocious delight, obsessed with subjects far outside the realm of what was considered “normal” for little girls. Harriet, Elizabeth’s neighbor and eventual best friend, was blunt and loving and longed to be loved in return. She was a tremendous help to Elizabeth, and I loved her for it. And then there was 6:30, Elizabeth’s dog and my absolute favorite character. I love animal companions, especially when we get inside their minds. 6:30 is a wonderful example of that. He’s an incredibly intelligent dog, and I loved getting his thoughts and views on what was happening in Elizabeth’s life.

Various aspects of this novel, the time period and the women in scientific fields, battling against the patriarchy to have their contributions recognized, reminded me of two other works. Namely, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, and These Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. So if you’ve read those and are looking for something to scratch a similar itch, I highly recommend Lessons in Chemistry. While I really liked the other two aforementioned books, Lessons in Chemistry surpassed them in ways. At least, in my opinion. I can’t wait to see what else Garmus gives us in the future.

You can purchase this book from: Blackwell’s | Bookshop.org (Support independent bookstores!) | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Audible | Libro.fm (Another way to support independent bookstores!) | Book Depository (Free shipping worldwide!)

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