Title: Lessons in Chemistry

Author: Bonnie Garmus

Publisher: Doubleday Books 2022

Genre: General Fiction

Pages: 400

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

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.

CW: Sexual Assault

This was chosen as our December book club selection. The reviews keep telling me that this is a “laugh out loud funny” book of strong women. The reviews tell me that it’s a heartwarming story of a woman finding herself. I most definitely disagree. I read this a terribly depressing story about what happens to women in this patriarchal society. We are slapped in the face with all the injustices that Elizabeth faces just because she is a woman. All of that, I could have maybe dealt with. The graphic sexual assault scenes were too far. And then we get Elizabeth herself. I was very annoyed by her completely obliviousness and naïveté when it came to issues and situations. I just couldn’t really root for her in the book. In fact, my favorite characters were the dog, Six Thirty, and the the next door neighbor, Harriet. I would have enjoyed more from them.

Next up on the TBR pile: