Review of "Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel" by Bonnie Garmus

You might think a book about chemists couldn't be comical, but you'd be wrong. This novel is wildly original and laugh-out-loud funny.

In 1952 twentysomething Elizabeth Zott is a chemist at Hastings Research Institute in California.



Like many women of the era, Elizabeth is patronized by the men she works with, who can't wrap their minds around accomplished females.



It would help if Elizabeth had a Ph.D. but she was expelled from the doctoral program at UCLA after her advisor, Dr. Meyers, assaulted her. The school had no intention of losing a renowned professor - even if he was a rapist - and it was bye bye Elizabeth. Luckily, Elizabeth was able to sink a number-two pencil into Meyers' side during the assault, and she always carried a pencil from that day on.

At Hastings Elizabeth is relegated to a small poorly equipped lab......



.....and needing beakers, she hopes to acquire some from Calvin Evans. Evans is a world famous chemist who's been nominated for a Nobel Prize, and he rates a large geared up laboratory.



When Elizabeth goes to ask Calvin for beakers, he makes the huge mistake of calling her a secretary, and suggesting she get her boss to call him.

When Calvin realizes his mistake he tries to make amends, but Elizabeth - who has no use for men who view women as 'less' - blows him off.



It's not until several weeks later, when Calvin inadvertently vomits on Elizabeth, that a friendship begins to develop.... and love follows soon afterwards.



Almost everyone at Hastings is jealous of the newly minted couple because Calvin is renowned and Elizabeth is beautiful. This makes the duo the target of constant surveillance and gossip.



Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Calvin reside in their own romantic bubble. They eat delicious homemade lunches every day, discuss chemistry ad infinitum......



.....and because Calvin is famous even get to bring their dog, Six-Thirty, to work.



Six-Thirty is easily my favorite character. He's a super-smart pooch who knows hundreds of words, is an excellent judge of character, and - with goggles on - even helps with chemistry experiments.



Fate intervenes, and some years later Elizabeth is the single mother of a gifted precocious daughter named Mad (Madeline).



Elizabeth is also the host of a television cooking show called 'Supper at Six' on KCTV.



The station's executive producer, Phil Lebensmal, wants Elizabeth to wear sexy tight dresses and make cocktails, but Elizabeth scoffs at this. On her first show, Elizabeth wears a drab dress with buttons down to the hem, a stark white multipocketed apron, a pair of goggles on her head, and a number-two pencil over her left ear.



On each episode, Elizabeth talks about the chemistry of cooking, and she often encourages her viewers (largely women) to follow their dreams.



After one show, Mad and Six-Thirty overhear two women talking:

"Correct me if I'm wrong Sheila," asks one woman, "but didn't she say cast iron requires zero-point-one-one calories of heat to raise the temperature of a single gram of atomic mass by one degree Celsius?"

"That's right, Elaine,' the other said. " That's why I'm buying a new skillet."



The book has many interesting secondary characters, including: Mrs. Harriet Sloane - a neighbor who helps Elizabeth with young Mad;



Dr. Donatti - the creepy self-serving Director of Chemistry at Hastings;



Mrs. Mudford - Mad's Kindergarten teacher, who gets furious when Mad requests Norman Mailer's 'The Naked and the Dead' from the school librarian;



Dr. Mason - an obstetrician and crew captain who wants Elizabeth to row on his men's team;



Walter Pine - a producer at KCTV who once, in a haze of exhaustion, packed his kindergartner's lunch box with a stapler instead of a sandwich, a script instead of a napkin, and a gin flask where the milk thermos was supposed to go;



Reverend Wakely - a pastor who helps Mad with a family tree assignment;



Miss Frask - a secretary from Personnel at Hastings whose spiteful jealousy gets Elizabeth fired; and more.



I was hoping to see the women come out on top in this book, and I wasn't disappointed.

Lessons in Chemistry is a New York Times Bestseller; Barnes and Nobles Book of the Year for 2022; a Goodreads Choice Award Winner; and a best book of the year for many news publications.

I completely enjoyed this novel and would encourage all book lovers to read it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Bonnie Garmus, and Doubleday for a copy of the manuscript.

Rating: 4.5 stars