Book Blurb:
Lessons in Chemistry: 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 as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes 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.
My Review: 4.5 stars
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is a delightfully charming story about Elizabeth Zott, feminist, chemist and all-around fresh character. Taking place in the 1960s, at a time when women were nowhere near at equal pay or equal status as men, we meet Elizabeth, who will have none of that. She’s quirky, unintentionally witty and a character you won’t soon forget.
After suffering some very serious misogynistic and abusive behavior while getting her PHD, it was assumed by her colleagues that she just “couldn’t cut it” as a PHD student. They were wrong. Her brain was her superpower, yet the men wouldn’t give her a fair shake at things until she meets Calvin Evans. Their story is woven together nicely and oddly realistically.
When Elizabeth becomes a single mother to Mad, with not one nurturing bone in her body, we see a new side to her. Help from her neighbor Harriet who’s in a loveless marriage becomes her lifeline and together the three of them become a force to be reckoned with. Elizabeth also finds herself on a row team and becomes a major TV superstar with her cooking show Supper at Six.
She brings the chemistry behind food to the mix and women start realizing their potential through her actions. She’s bold, says exactly what she feels with no filter or says nothing at all, which speak volumes.
I’d be remiss not to mention her beloved dog, six-thirty, who does some narration of his own. It was so well done! This is a fiercely amusing, powerful and all-around fun read.
Quotes I liked:
When one is raised on a steady diet of sorrow, it’s hard to imagine that others might have had an even larger serving.”
“What a mess devotion was.”
“But like your pie, life requires a strong base. In your home, you are that base. It is an enormous responsibility, the most undervalued job in the world that, nonetheless, holds everything together.”
“Losing a loved one has a way of revealing a too-simple truth: that time, a people often claimed but never heeded, really way precious.”
“We both know food is the catalyst that unlocks are brains, binds our families, and determines our futures. And Yet… Does anyone have the time to teach the entire nation to make food that matters? I wish I did, but I don’t. Do you?”
