What readers think of Lessons in Chemistry, plus links to write your own review.

Most reviews of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY say that it's funny. That's why it took me so long to read it. If you, like me, think that books that are described as funny are usually silly or corny or just plain dumb, you should know that LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY is an exception.

So what made me want to read LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY if I thought it would be silly or corny or dumb? Bonnie Garmus's husband was on "Jeopardy" for a few days. Garmus is the author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, and she has an exceptionally smart husband.

Garmus's main character, Elizabeth, is another smart person, a chemist in southern California during the 1950s and 1960s. She fought so much against the prevailing norms of that time, when women had to fight to be recognized in any field but wife and mother, she was finally fired from her job at a chemical research company.

Elizabeth then became, instead, an afternoon television star. It was supposed to be a cooking show, but she also, at the same time, taught lessons in chemistry. She fought for this, and her show became wildly popular.

A blurb on the cover of this book calls it "darkly funny." I think that's accurate. It certainly is not silly or corny or dumb.

The NEW YORK TIMES calls LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY a notable book. This is one of the few times I agree with them.

“… here she was, a single mother, the lead scientist on what had to be the most unscientific experiment of all time: the raising of another human being. Every day she found parenthood like taking a test for which she had not studied. The questions were daunting and there wasn’t nearly enough multiple choice.”

Lessons in Chemistry is the first novel by American copywriter, creative director, and author, Bonnie Garmus. Elizabeth Zott is a chemist. While she’d much prefer to be working on her research in a lab, she’s presenting a cooking show on TV. It’s 1962, she has a daughter to support, and TV pays better. It’s not at all where she thought she’d be, ten years earlier…
   
In 1952, Elizabeth has already been thrown out of the doctoral program at UCLA when she rejects the advances of her thesis advisor with a freshly-sharpened number-two pencil, and ends up at the Hastings Research Institute under the supervision of the equally misogynistic and insecure Dr Donatti.

The star scientist at Hastings is Nobel-Prize-nominated Calvin Evans, who boasts a well-equipped lab all to himself. Elizabeth needs beakers, helps herself to his, and gets rapped over the knuckles for disturbing the poster boy. But Calvin is quickly entranced by this beautiful woman who clearly has a brain, and uses it. Each pretends it’s a relationship based on mutual scientific interests until they succumb to the immediate irresistible pull of physical attraction. They have chemistry.

But. Elzabeth Zott is a chemist, and she wants to do, and be recognised for, her own research, not ride on the coattails of her talented boyfriend. “Elizabeth’s grudges were mainly reserved for the patriarchal society founded on the idea that women were less. Less capable. Less intelligent. Less inventive. A society that believed men went to work and did important things – discovered planets, developed products, created laws – and women stayed home and raised children… she also knew that plenty of women did want children and a career. And what was wrong with that? Nothing. It was exactly what men got.” All that she encounters is obstacles.

Four years on, Elizabeth is a single mother starring in the most unconventional cooking show that American TV has ever seen and, despite lots of (male) objections, she has a devout following. What makes many of the men in charge uncomfortable are her freely-shared frank opinions and her encouragement of women wanting to follow their dreams.

Garmus tells her story through multiple narrators, one of whom is Elizabeth’s clever dog, Six-Thirty, and she often gives them wise words and insightful observations. While her description of sexual harassment may be confronting for some readers, Garmus also manages to include a few scenes that will bring a lump to the throat, and a generous amount of humour, some of it quite black, much of it laugh-out-loud.

Her depiction of the late fifties and early sixties will definitely resonate with readers of a certain vintage, who may have experienced similar: “With the exception of a select few, she only ever seemed to bring out the worst in men. They either wanted to control her, touch her, dominate her, silence her, correct her, or tell her what to do. She didn’t understand why they couldn’t just treat her as a fellow human being, as a colleague, a friend, an equal, or even a stranger on the street, someone to whom one is automatically respectful until you find out they’ve buried a bunch of bodies in the backyard.” Funny, moving and thought-provoking, this is a brilliant debut.

The book takes place in the 1960s. The main character, Elizabeth Zott, is not your average woman. She is strong, independent and a chemist and finds herself subjected to all manner of sexism and abuse by her male colleagues. One of her colleagues though is a brilliant and successful scientist and he and Elizabeth fall in love. Later on she has a child and her life takes a detour.

She becomes the host of a TV cooking show and to the producer’s dismay, she describes cooking in chemistry terms. They cringe, but her show turns out to be a huge success.

The book is laugh-out-loud funny. My favorite scene is when a male colleague tries to sexually harass Elizabeth and she pulls a chef’s knife out of her purse, waves it at him, and he keels over from a heart attack. Yes!!! I expect many women readers applauded that scene.

The book is full of great characters and a fabulous dog. The only criticism I have of it is that Elizabeth’s daughter Mad is not quite believable. Had she been described as a teenager and not a first-grader, I could have believed her vocabulary and wit.

I loved this book!

This book is like quicksand. It will suck you in and not let go until you finish it. Oh, it is GOOD!

Written by Bonnie Garmus, this is a novel that is both a riveting story and a feminist manifesto. It's 1952 and Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant wannabe chemist, is being stifled at every turn, prevented from getting a Ph.D. (and when you find out the reason, you will want to throw something) and unable to find a job suitable for her genius mind. She is forced to settle. Working at Hastings Research Institute in the fictional town of Commons, California as the only female scientist, she spends her days fighting obstacle after obstacle. Then she meets Calvin Evans, the boy genius who is a celebrity in the world of chemistry. The two fall deeply, soulfully in love. Each comes from a tragic background, and they truly find solace in one another until yet another tragedy happens. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is pregnant, which causes her to be summarily fired from her job. Madeline is born, and after a series of missteps, Elizabeth becomes an unlikely TV star, hosting a live afternoon cooking show in which she teaches her largely female audience not only what to make for dinner, but also the chemical reactions involved. And the underlying message of each show, in addition to the chemistry lesson, is the extraordinary value of women—even though in the early 1960s, many women felt they were valued only as glorified maids. Add to the mix an assortment of delightful minor characters and a charming dog named Six-Thirty.

Ingeniously plotted with big, bold, and delightfully quirky characters, an enchanting love story, and a resounding, insightful message, this is a book to be savored and recommended to your best friends.

I hope a lot of young women—those in their late teens and early 20s—read this book so they will appreciate how far women have come and what it (really) was like not that long ago.

Bonus: There are parts of this novel that are laugh-out-loud hilarious. Of course, other parts will make you weep. Kind of perfect!

Bought this novel for a holiday book exchange last December. Throughly enjoyed the writing, the plot, the characters and even the fairy tale ending. I’m looking forward to that Bonnie Garmus will write next.

I'm 76, l'm a man and l loved the book.
I don't know how many of you reacted the way l did. I couldn't keep my emotions in check. I sobbed, l smiled but most of all l was sorry l had come to the end of the book.
Thank you Bonnie Garmus for giving us such a wonderful story.

I've never had so much fun reading a book!

“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus tells the story of women in the sciences in the ’50s and ’60s confronting the type of sexism we wish was hyperbole, but we probably know better. My favorite reviewer, who happens to be female, rated this one of the best of 2022, but I think your gender will directly affect how you experience the rigid roles of the day.

Elizabeth Zott, a chemist who cooks with the same passion that she does scientific experiments, works hard and pairs off with famous scientist Calvin Evans. Both are damaged and do not usually pursue relationships as a top priority. Chemistry plays a key role, as Elizabeth attacks every problem, even grief and sexism, in a search for a solution.

Since I always read the flap summary, I realized that the blurb only covers about the first 100 pages. Many trials and tribulations await Mrs. Zott, and she has predictable results in unpredictable ways. We understand early on that the theme of sexism will permeate the story, but we do not know the depths and the subtle changes over the years.

Our heroine walks backward into a hosting gig on a local cooking show, and she becomes an overnight success. She deserves happiness after a laundry list of bad news came her way. Nonetheless, the plotline follows a predictable pattern since her failure would not have made for much of a story. Since I liked Elizabeth, I went along for the ride willingly.

The Internet shows varied reactions to the book, some inspired by the feminist message and others annoyed by the Zott character. Elizabeth has no filter, and that makes for fun reading. It takes a turn at the beginning of the last quarter, but I enjoyed it and thought it probably represented the ‘50s and ‘60s for female scientists well.