Title: Lessons in Chemistry
Series: -
Author: Bonnie Garmus
Publisher: Penguin
Release Date: (paperback) 2nd March 2023
Pages: 400
Source: Purchased
Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰
CAWPILE: 9.00/10
Synopsis
'Your ability to change everything - including yourself - starts here' - Elizabeth Zott
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.
But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take 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 change the status quo.
Meet the unconventional, uncompromising Elizabeth Zott.
Review
“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun.”
I didn’t really know what to expect when it came to this book, I saw so many people rave about it when it first came out but I saw the word chemistry and went ‘nah that’s not for me’ and immediately disregarded it. My D in GCSE chemistry making me feel like I just wouldn’t get along with it at all, science just does not agree with me, I am a humanities gal through and through. However, I decided to pick it up after seeing the Supper at Six set up in Waterstones Piccadilly (which I forgot to take pictures of) on a whim and I am so glad I did because I loved it.
Lessons in Chemistry is a wonderful, funny, and inspiring book that deeply touched my emotions and I struggled to put it down so much so that I finished it in one day because it was just that good! One of my favourite things about it was Garmus’ writing style, punchy, emotional and genuinely funny she really managed to draw me in as a reader and make me feel for all of the characters. I really loved the way she wrote so many different points of view as well, but I think my favourite was without a doubt Six Thirty’s point of view. I am a sucker for hearing from animals because I feel like writers can have so much fun with the perspective, it truly feels fun and refreshing and different to the normal kind of rules of human point of views.
Another thing I really loved was just how relatable the characters were, even though I don’t have the same experiences or life as any of them, there were so many little ways in which I could relate to them. I think Garmus’ managed to really craft these characters well, because you start to deeply care for them all and how relatable they are, which also means you’re really rooting for them. This is especially important because Garmus is writing during a period of deep misogyny - the 1950s housewife prevalent and all women can seemingly aspire to, which is why Zott feels so revolutionary. But it goes deeper than that, the obvious sexism made me furious for Zott in so many ways but one of the things I’m really glad about was that the sexism wasn’t the only issue Zott faces. It is so easy to write a story focusing on that, but Garmus takes these characters deeper, really making them face the harsh reality of life and it was heart-breaking because of how much you care for these characters.
However, it isn’t all doom and gloom and fury at the patriarchy, Elizabeth Zott is a genuinely hilarious character, as are the side characters throughout the book. It genuinely made me laugh while I was reading, due to the one liners and general way the characters behaved. But it was also so inspiring, full of many quotes that really speak to you - through Zott trying to speak to a nation of women it felt like Garmus was directly giving advice to the reader. Reminding us that though things may not be as bad as the 50s/60s, women are still undervalued and face some of the same obstacles as Zott today and that we should not undervalue ourselves but push for more.
Overall, I just adored this book and I’m really intrigued to see what Garmus does next, I was shocked when I went to look up her previous works to discover that this is her debut novel. So I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from her and hoping the next books are just as emotional and inspiring. If you haven’t read it, you really need to - ESPECIALLY if like me you think chemistry is not for you because trust me, Elizabeth Zott will change your mind.
“Whenever you start doubting yourself, whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of change and change is what we're chemically designed to do.”
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