Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Posted by Ms K on January 11, 2023 in All | 1 Comment

When the cover of a book has Nigella Lawson saying ‘I was devastated to have finished it’, well, my literary love language translates that to hello, take me home now. I did, months ago now, devoured it in a day or two and it’s been haunting me to review it since.

Fast forward to these Christmas holidays which I spent in the USA and lo and behold, this book is the hottest ticket in town so hopefully I have not missed the boat with letting you know you should read this delight asap. I loved it and trust me, we all need Elizabeth Zott in our lives.

Set in the early 1960s, Elizabeth is a brilliant, up and coming scientist working with a domineering, all-male team at Hastings Research Institute. Remember it’s the early 60s, feminism is in its infancy, and life in the lab is no picnic – her professional life is crushed by sexism and she’s constantly reminded of ‘where a woman belongs’.

Calvin Evans is not an average male scientist though – he’s a loner and Nobel Prize nominated colleague – who falls in love with Elizabeth and her mind. It reads like a romance novel at this point, and of course in a way it is, but then it isn’t because Lessons in Chemistry has only one leading character and it is Elizabeth. She suffers in this book, and it is this suffering which paves the path forward.

Her relationship with Calvin is life changing and fast forward a few years, Elizabeth is a single mother and unwilling star of Supper at Six, America’s most popular cooking show where she uses chemistry in the kitchen to start a quiet revolution with housewives. It is a run away hit because of her personality – deadpan yet beguilling – and her incredible expertise on the tools. TV magic is created and for a while, the male powerbrokers believe at last, Elizabeth is where she belongs – in the kitchen.

The success of Supper at Six is because Elizabeth doesn’t just teach the women to cook, she dares them to change the status quo of their lives. You will love her character and the lines given to her by the author – the most popular ones I will share below but my favourite line of all would be the one she says at the close of each show which simply is ‘Children, set the table. Your mother needs a moment to herself.’

Amen.

And that is my two cents worth……and the five most popular quotes shared from the book below are perhaps some food for thought in the new year, yes?

• ‘Whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of change – and change is what we’re chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others’ opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. When you go home today, ask yourself what YOU will change. And then get started.’
• ‘As humans, we’re by-products of our upbringings, victims of our lackluster educational systems, and choosers of our behaviors. In short, the reduction of women to something less than men, and the elevation of men to something more than women, is not biological: it’s cultural. And it starts with two words: pink and blue. Everything skyrockets out of control from there.’
• ‘Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun.’
• ‘Imagine if all men took women seriously. Education would change. The workforce would revolutionize. Marriage counsellors would go out of business. Do you see my point?’
• ‘Chemistry is change and change is the core of your belief system. Which is good because that’s what we need more of – people who refuse to accept the status quo, who aren’t afraid to take on the unacceptable.’