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Bonnie Garmus

Lessons in Chemistry Paperback – March 29 2022

by Bonnie Garmus (Author)

4.5 158,488 ratings

#14 this week

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A delight for readers of Where'd You Go, Bernadette, 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.

Like science, though, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Eizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother but also 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 how 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.

ISBN-10

0385697376
ISBN-13

978-0385697378
Publication date

March 29 2022
Language

English
Dimensions

15.49 x 2.79 x 23.37 cm
Print length

400 pages
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From the Publisher

Product description

Review

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Debut Novel
Shortlisted for the 2022/23 Comedy Women in Print Prize

Named one of the best books of 2022 by The New York Times • Oprah Daily • NPR • Entertainment Weekly • Daily Hive • The Guardian • The Times • Kirkus Reviews • Business Insider • BookPage • Amazon

"I loved it and am devastated to have finished it." —Nigella Lawson, author of Cook, Eat, Repeat

"Just loved it. Highly recommend, once you start you won’t put it down." —Julianna Margulies

"Deeply droll and terribly wise at the same time, this book is a delight." —The Globe and Mail

"Feminism is the catalyst that makes [this story] fizz like hydrochloric acid on limestone. . . . Beyond the entertaining subplots and witty dialogue is the hard truth that, in 1961, a smart, ambitious woman had limited options. . . . To file Elizabeth Zott among the pink razors of the book world is to miss the sharpness of Garmus's message. Lessons in Chemistry will make you wonder about all the real-life women born ahead of their time—women who were sidelined, ignored and worse because they weren’t as resourceful, determined and lucky as Elizabeth Zott. She's a reminder of how far we've come, but also how far we still have to go." —Elisabeth Egan, The New York Times Book Review

"Garmus . . . delivers an assured voice, an indelible heroine and several love stories. . . . There is an infectious absurdity to the book and its hero. . . . Garmus manages to charm. She's created an indelible assemblage of stubborn, idiosyncratic characters. She's given us a comic novel at precisely the moment we crave one." —The Washington Post

"Darkly funny and poignant. . . . Garmus paints an excruciating portrait of what her awkward and brilliant protagonist has to deal with on a daily basis both in academia and the corporate world. . . . Excellent . . . quirky and heartwarming." —The Atlantic

"Beneath its pink cover, Lessons in Chemistry offers a story about power. . . . A book whose success is the stuff publishing dreams are made of. . . . Lessons in Chemistry has stuck a chord with a wide swath of readers. . . . A book that defies easy categorization. . . ." —The New York Times

"Darkly funny and poignant. . . . Irresistible, a gorgeous tribute to resilience and the many types of love that sustain us." —Oprah Daily

"Elizabeth is a standout character that pushes the boundaries that women are expected to abide by in this witty yet important read." —BuzzFeed

"Irresistible. . . . One meal at a time, [Zott] galvanizes her audience to question the lives they've been served." —New York Times Book Review

"A bold, smart and often hilarious look at the value of so-called women's work." —Real Simple

"This is a triumphant and totally original debut novel about a woman who refuses to live by society's strict and oppressive gender rules and follows her dream of becoming a scientist even as the world tries to stand in her way." —Isaac Fitzgerald, author of How to Be a Pirate, for TODAY

"A kicky debut, this book tackles feminism, resilience, and rationalism in a fun and refreshing way." —BuzzFeed

"A rare beast; a polished, funny, thought-provoking story, wearing its research lightly but confidently, with sentences so stylishly turned it’s hard to believe it's a debut." —The Guardian

"It's the world versus Elizabeth Zott, an extraordinary woman determined to live on her own terms, and I had no trouble choosing a side. Lessons in Chemistry is a page-turning and highly satisfying tale: zippy, zesty, and Zotty." —Maggie Shipstead, author of Great Circle

"A smart, funny, big-hearted debut combining chemical elements into what seems a winning formula—one whose breakneck pace and gently ironic tone should appeal to readers of literary-commercial hits by American authors such as Katherine Heiny, Emma Straub and Curtis Sittenfeld." —Sunday Times (UK)

"This triumphant feminist fable, wittily observed, is teeming with vivid comic set-pieces, those joyful moments feel more or less earned thanks to Garmus's winning forumla." —Telegraph

"[A] warm and addictive novel which cleverly and entertainingly unpacks the thorny questions around women's empowerment, the need to be true to oneself and why we should refuse to accept the limitations others try to impose on us. A triumph." —Daily Mail

"[A] smart, uproarious, emotional page-turner." —The Times

"A transporting read." —Stylist

"Never will you meet such an uncompromising character as Elizabeth Zott. . . . This is a truly unique book with some great life lessons." —Woman & Home

"Full of humour heartbreak and characters who feel like real people. This is a book that everyone will be talking about." —Red

"[An] energetic debut. . . . A more adorable plea for rationalism and gender equality would be hard to find." —Kirkus Reviews(starred review)

"Indefatigable and formidable, Elizabeth pushes the bounds of how women and their work are perceived in this thoroughly engaging debut novel." —Booklist

"Bonnie Garmus's devastating and funny debut novel blows the lid off the simplistic myth of post-World War II American life. . . . A witty and sharp dramedy about resilience and found families. . . . The scope of what this iconoclastic woman goes through is breathtaking, from personal losses to unrelenting sexism. . . . Not one moment of Elizabeth's story rings false; every detail is a well-documented component of the time period yet specific to her experience. Readers won't be able to get enough of Elizabeth and her makeshift family. Lessons in Chemistry is a story to return to again and again." —BookPage (starred review)

"Lessons in Chemistry is a breath of fresh air—a witty, propulsive, and refreshingly hopeful novel populated with singular characters. This book is an utter delight—wry, warm, and compulsively readable." —Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had

"A book that sparks joy with every page. Lessons in Chemistry is both funny and rousing: it had me laughing one minute and air-punching the next. Bonnie Garmus has created an unforgettable heroine." —Elizabeth Day

"Elizabeth Zott swept me away with her intellect, honesty and unapologetic selfhood. Lessons in Chemistry is a story for all the smart girls who refuse to dumb themselves down despite a culture that demands otherwise. Though a creation of the 50s & 60s, Zott is a feminist icon for our time." —Rachel Yoder, author of Nightbitch

"A vibrant and original story of hope and staying true to yourself. Laugh-out-loud funny and brimming with life, generosity and courage." —Rachel Joyce

"A timeless book. Elizabeth Zott is an iconic heroine—a feminist who refuses to be quashed, a mother who believes that her child is a person to behold, rather than to mould, and who will leave you, and the lens through which you see the world, quite changed." —Pandora Sykes

"Original, fresh, tender, funny and warm. The story dances and swirls, captivating the reader from the first page." —Sinead Moriarty

"The most charming, life-enhancing novel I've read in ages. A perfect delight." —India Knight

About the Author

BONNIE GARMUS is a copywriter and creative director who has worked widely in the fields of technology, medicine and education. She's an open-water swimmer, a rower and mother to two pretty amazing daughters. Born in California and most recently from Seattle, she currently lives in London with her husband and her dog, 99.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Doubleday Canada (March 29 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385697376
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385697378
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 540 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.49 x 2.79 x 23.37 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #48 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #19 in Women's Fiction (Books)
- #40 in Genre Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 158,488 ratings

About the author

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Bonnie Garmus

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Bonnie Garmus is a copywriter and creative director who has worked for a wide range of clients, in the US and abroad, focusing primarily on technology, medicine, and education. She’s an open water swimmer, a rower, and mother to two pretty amazing daughters. Most recently from Seattle, she currently lives in London with her husband and her dog, 99.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

158,488 global ratings

5 star		66%
4 star		24%
3 star		6%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Canada

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Jill Crossland

Love/Hate Relationship with this Book

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 17, 2023

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I had a love/hate relationship with Lessons in Chemistry. First, I nearly didn't buy this book as I disliked the North American book cover of bubble gum pink and an overly stylized woman's face. However, the more sophisticated European book cover, plus a friend's recommendation, aroused my curiosity.

The storyline takes us through the harsh realities of a brilliant woman who wanted more than the role of wife and homemaker. To Elizabeth Zott, her beloved career choice, respect and a fair salary were her right as long as she was willing to work hard for them, which she was. But, unfortunately, the male-dominated 50s and 60s were going to do whatever it took to 'keep her down and in her place'.

The reviews have adjectives of 'original', 'witty', 'poignant' & 'thought-provoking', all true. Comparisons to The Queen's Gambit and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel are also valid. However, both were more sweeping than Lessons In Chemistry, supporting characters more realistic, while in comparison, Elizabeth's world was relatively closed, often claustrophobic. Many conversations were repetitive, and some less essential scenarios a little far-fetched. Then add to this an ending where all the questions are answered, and the unknowns suddenly fit perfectly into place.

I hated the soft marketing, from the girly book cover to an author feeling they must write an unrealistic 'she lived happily ever after' ending. Lessons in Chemistry is a work of fiction built around real-life themes. The '60s were just the beginning of the movement for female rights, and now in 2023, we still witness how women continue to struggle for those rights. Garmus owed the highly intelligent Elizabeth and readers a more open-ended finale to this book.

4 people found this helpful

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Jill Harris

Witty, funny, easy to resonate with

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 2, 2023

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I put off reading this book for a long time because the cover image gives the totally wrong impression about what this book is. This book is so well written. It's unexpectedly funny and witty, and the characters are wonderful (albeit frustrating). Following the protagonist who wants nothing but to be taken seriously as a scientist in the '60s and facing all the obstacles/perceived limitations that a woman in a male-dominated field must deal with, you want to scream at the pages while taking a look around you at the real world and noticing how much hasn't changed, or how much has at least pretended to change. This is a great read.

One person found this helpful

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Catherine Sullivan

An interesting read

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 17, 2023

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Not what I expected but thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Glimpse at the struggles women have had in the scientific community as well as perceived notions of motherhood and gender roles, also very funny,

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Elle

Fully deserving of its accolades

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 5, 2023

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I loved this story. I have a hard time understanding some of the criticism in the other reviews.

The prose flows easily. The dialogue has been crafted carefully to match the idiosyncrasies of each character. Their flaws, humanity, and humour come out so effortlessly - I was truly impressed.

I never believe reviews that claim a book is funny - I’ve never found them to be true. This novel is an exception, however. There are truly humorous exchanges that made me chuckle out loud (poor Walter trying to reason with Elizabeth - I could just picture the flustered, red-faced, exasperated man), as well as some EQ flaws from the most intelligent characters that are amusingly laid bare for the reader.

Despite the A+ stylistic marks, the content, plot development, and character growth are what really stick with you. It’s easy to forget in 2023 that, a mere few decades ago, women were subjected to abhorrent behaviours that were accepted as “the way things are,” with no credible recourse to justice. I love that our protagonist builds resilience throughout the story, and demonstrates gumption that so many women didn’t have the courage or opportunity to demonstrate in their day.

Let’s not forget that there are many Elizabeth Zott’s to this day still - women who get shunned, discredited, disrespected, or simply not taken seriously in their fields on a daily basis. Women who have to work much harder than men to prove themselves and “make it.” Women who are brilliant but, due to traditional family roles, had to make hard choices - the world isn’t kind to a mother who prioritizes career over housekeeping/childrearing. This book is an ode to women who have succeeded despite and in spite of.

I will be recommending this book to all my girlfriends. And I encourage you to read it - you will finish it with a renewed sense of purpose and drive, and a smile on your face.

5 people found this helpful

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Laurie Scott

Delightful page-turner!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 9, 2023

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In 10 years of book-clubbing this may well be the most enjoyable novel I've read. The characters were playfully drawn; exaggerated just enough to bump up the humour, but realistic enough to make us believe in them. For those of us who remember the fifties (if only vaguely), the situations and issues the author zeroes in on were very real, and many of them persist to various degrees today. We are reminded that the journey of women to get where they they are now has been a long, lingering struggle. I found myself laughing out loud several times. I loved the way characters that were introduced in early parts of the story were brought together later. I would like to have had just a little more resolution at the end. The story seemed to wrap up very suddenly. Overall, though, this novel gets top marks from me for being clever, entertaining and informative.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 5, 2023

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This book is one of the best books I have read for some time. I really liked the character Elizabeth Zott and her no nonsense ways. It would be an awful time (early 1950's) to be a grown up woman and Elizabeth put up with a lot of nasty stuff that women or many women would not tolerate today. I hope the author writes another book.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 21, 2023

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Elizabeth Zott is an amazing and inspirational character. It was fun to read this book. She was ahead of her time. I really enjoyed it and I hope there is a sequel because I would buy it for sure!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 23, 2023

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Elizabeth Zott is a funny modern intelligent woman who goes against the grain and gets what she wants by standing up to others.A thoroughly fun read!

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Top reviews from other countries

Jonathan D. Mueller

Started strongly but then degenerated into flights of fancy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 20, 2022

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The book started out well, lighter than I expected but fun and a definite page-turner. Up to a point it was rather good satire, but beyond the point when Elizabeth leaves Hastings the second time it turns fanciful. For me, Elizabeth became annoying, more stubborn than strong, a poor listener who jumps to conclusions and takes self-defeating, intransigent positions, from which she is rescued by luck, luck that she partly makes herself but luck nonetheless. Her neighbour Harriet, when she emerges from the beer-bellied shadow of her husband, is a more admirably strong woman, and I know about strong women because a life in horse sports is a life with strong women. I was disappointed that it was not a story of her pushing the glass ceiling, but of having the glass ceiling removed by one or another deus ex machina. In the end I felt it trivialized the struggles of the first-wave feminists, of which my mother was one (first woman editor on the law review at Penn, if I may be allowed a brag).

Apparently Garmus used a 1950s chemistry text so that the chemistry would be that of the day. Well, she could have done with a little more of that reality checking, because the book is loaded with anachronisms. For example, high rates of skin cancer in Sweden: no, no, no. Skin cancer was not a problem for Northern Europeans as long as they stuck to their frosty clime; it was only when they started holidaying in sunnier places that it became a problem, and that was well after the '50s.

The skewering of the Catholic church and religion in general was a cheap shot. It's been done. Try something more daring.

Of course this is fiction, so it is Garmus's world and she can create whatever reality she likes, but I as the reader don't have to believe it, and there are a couple of things I must fault. First, Six-Thirty the dog. Yes, wonderful character. But, the cognition of dogs: yes, an exceptionally-intelligent dog can develop a vocabulary of several hundred words, but it does not happen by reading to them. It happens through working with them, introducing them to objects. The record for vocabulary was held by a Border Collie in Germany who had a vocabulary of over 800 words. Anybody who has worked with Borders knows they are exceptionally verbal dogs, so it would be surprising to see a dog without at least a high dose of Border approach their facility. Also, bomb dogs are not trained to fling themselves on bombs; they have no way of knowing it is about to go off. Nor do they pick up bombs and carry them away. They are trained, when they smell explosives, to sit or stand quietly and make an unobtrusive signal to their handler that nobody else will recognize. Suggesting that a handler would take a failing service dog and dump him by the road is bordering on libel of the USMC. And note to Garmus and her editor: when writing about the USMC, Marine is capped. USMC is not pointed. To distinguish the British service, Royal Marine. And nobody is an ex-Marine. Semper fi.

Then there is Cambridge. As far as I can see Garmus knows nothing about Cambridge, rowing at Cambridge, or how that differs from rowing at American universities, or about austerity Britain in the late '40s. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that rowing at Oxbridge in the '40s was a lot like the '70s, when I was there. OUBC and CUBC were both amateurish organisations (for the uninitiated, all sport at Oxford and Cambridge is run by student-run clubs) riddled with nepotism and with lackadaisical training habits which shocked the American graduate students who started showing up in the early 1980s, and who then took over and professionalised things. Pushy Americans.

She also thinks the old wooden racing boats were heavy. Maybe she has never rowed one. I have. They were heavier than today's carbon boats, but eight strong men could still handle them like a feather.

102 people found this helpful

Maureen Sunderland

Not what it pretends to be.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 30, 2022

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I really hated this book because it presents itself as championing the cause of women and does the exact opposite. The basic premise of is that in the era when it is set (1960s) and IN CALIFORNIA a woman scientist is so rare that woman in labs are only there to carry beakers and get sexually assaulted. What does this do other than disregard and denigrate the contribution of real women who overcame the undoubted discrimination of the time to make a real contribution. However when the amazingly beautiful (wouldn’t you know it - is this chick lit) Elizabeth appears none of the men appear to have even heard of a woman scientist. In 1961 - yes early 1960s and in racially segregated workplaces - the NASA space programme was trusting the brilliance of three black women mathmaticians, who probably had to overcome immense discrimination, to bring astronauts back to earth. When he was told his flight trajectory had been calculated by computer John Glenn famously demanded that the calculations be checked by one of them before he would go. Why didn’t he just find out if they were amazingly beautiful and then get them to collect the beakers? And the NASA science laboratories, as well as every major university science department in the USA, employed a number of women (not equal numbers but certainly enough that no male scientist would gasp at the sight of one).
And there’s more denigration. Elizabeth is in television where apparently women also have subsidiary demeaning roles - no acknowledgement of the real women front and back of the camera cue Lucille Ball, Julia Child and pioneering female producers just the unique Elizabeth. Of course Elizabeth is a dedicated feminist! She also has progressive attitudes on race - she even references Rosa Parks on air for goodness sake - so in this novel set in 1960s America how many people of colour appear? Well Rosa Parks gets a mention! Then apparently in 1960s California there is no questioning of religion (except of course by the exceptional Elizabeth) so when exactly was the famous Time magazine cover IS GOD DEAD?
The point about this book is IT IS NOT FEMINIST it is ANTI-FEMINIST as it ignores all the real women who went before Elizabeth or were there at the same time in order to tell us that only an exceptionally beautiful woman with a genius daughter (oh what a surprise that is) would have achieved anything at that time.
I can’t help wondering how many of the five star reviews come from people who weren’t around at the time and couldn’t be bothered to look up what it was really like - yes it was hard for women then and it still is today in many ways so don’t belittle the contributions real women (women not always from the white relatively privileged world) made in order to present an unrealistic comic ‘heroine’.

89 people found this helpful

Sally Zigmond

Not for me.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 19, 2022

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I love fiction, especially historical fiction. I bought this book, having watched BBC TV's "Between The Covers". where everyone raved about it. Why? Because they were paid to? A child under 5 who reads War and Peace? Come on. That was bad enough. But a young academic whose professor rapes her viciously. Although she is angry, she dusts herself off and vows to get her revenge with no physical or mental repercussions? I tried to read on but the overall tone of the book was wrong. I felt sick because rape was treated so lightly. Humour is tricky to target correctly. Who is this book for? Not me. I struggled to read on. My action should have been to fling the book against a brick wall, but as my eyesight is poor, I read on a well-lit large print Kindle and I had no brick wall handy. All I can do is warn other readers.

53 people found this helpful

Nicola

A gem of a debut!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 10, 2022

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I want to start this review by saying that I thought that I had read some amazing books already this year, ones that I had given 5 stars, I was wrong, having now read this stunner of a book. My 5 star reads from this point forward will all be measured on this book - this is my 5 star barometer!!

Elizabeth Zott is a Chemist in the 1960’s, the only problem is that everyone else sees her as everything but that! Her male colleagues won’t take her seriously and see her as nothing but a woman who has ideas above her station. Although they are all threatened by her greatness and are more than happy to steal her work. All apart from Calvin Evans who is also a chemist and known for his greatness in the field of science. Calvin never looks down on Elizabeth and they start a relationship that would have beautifully stood the test of time.

Unfortunately life doesn’t always go to plan and Elizabeth finds herself alone and as a single mother. She finds herself presenting a tv show called Supper at Six, she uses this as her platform to give ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ to the women of America who she knows are meant to be doing greater things than being typecast as a wife and mother - she empowers them to do great things with their lives.

From the first to the very last word of this book I was hooked. Elizabeth Zott is an absolute legend of a main character, I was rooting for her throughout the whole story. This book is fiction, but it had me pondering on more than one occasion what it must have been like to be a woman at this time, I’m so glad that women like Elizabeth Zott make it possible for me to have the life and freedom that I have today.

Elizabeth is a very serious character, a bit like her story but it is told with comedic moments that did have me laughing out loud, especially how her daughter Mad got her name. She is such an endearing leading lady that you would love to have someone like her stood in your corner as your mother, aunt, sibling or best friend.

If you’re after a book that will leave your heart full, then look no further than this absolute masterpiece of a debut from Bonnie Garmus.

42 people found this helpful

Sarah H.

A truly wonderful and mesmerizing novel.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 19, 2023

Verified Purchase

There has been so much hype around this book that I have been dying to read it for myself and I am so glad I finally did.

To start with I have to admit I wondered if it would be for me. Chemistry/science were subjects I neither understood or excelled at, at school and I wondered if it all might just go over my head. Whilst it is detrimental to the story, I actually found it all fascinating! I learned quite a lot when it came to the cooking shows about certain foods and how to cook them. Was definitely a much more fun way of learning.

Meeting Elizabeth and Calvin for the first time is certainly memorable. They are both quirky in character and I was a bit unsure to begin with but having finished the book, I have to say how much I adore both of them but especially Elizabeth. In fact there are quite a few characters that stole a piece of my heart. There were also some that I would have loved to have given a good slap. The book is set in the 1960’s a time where most women were housewives or working in roles that were deemed suitable for a woman. Poor Elizabeth has to face so much animosity for her life choices as well as being an incredibly intelligent scientist. It made me more appreciative to see how far we have come in our thinking.

Lessons in Chemistry was a pure delight to read! It covers love, grief, unlikely friendships as well as not giving up on yourself. Reading of Elizabeth fighting not just for her rights but for women in general was exhilarating and uplifting. It’s very much a story of not letting society dictate or dampen your spirits. If this doesn’t get snapped up for a movie deal, I’ll eat my own hat! A truly wonderful and mesmerizing novel.

21 people found this helpful

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Lessons in Chemistry Paperback – March 29 2022

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Bonnie Garmus

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