Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus: Audiobook Review

Introduction:

Lessons in Chemistry has one of the most interesting protagonists I have had the pleasure to read about. Elizabeth Zott, (both of her names are used together throughout the book), is a brilliant young female scientist living in a man’s world in the early 1960s. The author brings to light the inequities experienced by women who chose to do anything else in their lives besides being a homemakers and mothers.

From The Publisher:

A delight for readers of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, this blockbuster debut set in 1960s California features the singular voice of Elizabeth Zott, a scientist whose career takes a detour when she becomes the star of a beloved TV cooking show.

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. 

Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.

My Thoughts:

Elizabeth meets and falls in love with her soulmate Calvin Evans. Calvin has had a childhood more traumatic than most but goes on to become a Nobel-prize nominated scientist. The book really excels in the development of these two characters including a backstory for each that is well-detailed. A few years after their meeting, Elizabeth finds herself alone and pregnant.

Elizabeth loses her job due to her pregnancy out of wedlock and is later approached to host a cooking show to help homemakers prepare the family’s dinner. Being the chemist she is, she presents a unique style to her show which provides her audience with more than just a recipe to make for the evening meal.

How can you not fall in love with a character who stands up for herself and advocates for other women? Elizabeth is quirky, determined, dedicated and no-nonsense. She has turned her own kitchen into a laboratory to continue her research, complete with a Bunsen burner, a centrifuge and beakers (all very valuable to make the perfect cup of coffee). She has taught her daughter Mad to read at an adult level before she enters school, and her dog (which she names 6:30) a vocabulary of over 900 words.

I chose to listen to the audiobook version of Lessons in Chemistry which was narrated by Miranda Raison and Pandora Sykes. I found their performances to be enthusiastic and easy to listen to.

Lessons in Chemistry is a book I will remember for many years to come. It’s emotional to see what this woman has overcome and always entertaining. This is one book I will be recommending over and over again.

What I Liked:

• The in-depth character development of Elizabeth and Calvin
• The author’s accuracy in writing about this point in history
• The emotional backstory to the quirky protagonists

Acknowledgments:

Thank you to my public library for purchasing this audiobook.

Similar Books I’ve Reviewed:

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

That Summer by Jennifer Weiner