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.
There’s been a lot of buzz about Bonnie Garmus’ debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry. It has received praise from the likes of Nigella Lawson, Elizabeth Day and Maggie Shipstead, all of whom couldn’t get enough of this fabulous novel and its plucky heroine. It’s even set to be adapted into an Apple TV+ mini-series starring Bree Larson. So, is it worth the hype? Absolutely. Lessons in Chemistry is a fun, energetic and original story that I simply could not get enough of.
The novel is set in California during the 1950s and 60s before the counter-culture movement had taken hold. This was the era of Mad Men, when husbands went to work to bring home the bacon while their wives stayed home to cook their meals and take care of the children. Enter the unconventional and uncompromising Elizabeth Zott, a scientist whose career takes a detour when she becomes the star of a beloved TV cooking show.
As far as protagonists go, Elizabeth is a force to be reckoned with. She’s a scientist who’s passionate about her work and is determined to succeed in a male-dominated field. She’s a mother who leaves slips of paper in her daughter’s lunchbox that say, ‘play sports at recess but do not automatically let the boys win.’ And she’s a TV cooking star, whose rousing words dare her female viewers to reconsider not just the dinner menu, but their place in the world. Unique and unforgettable, Elizabeth is iconic – I could sing her praises all day.
Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant and written in polished, zingy prose, this is an entertaining feminist fairy tale that will simultaneously enrage and inspire readers. With Lessons in Chemistry, Garmus has delivered a debut as original and vibrant as its wonderful protagonist.
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