Lessons in Chemistry: The multi-million-copy bestseller

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This is one of those books that reminds us we can absolutely do anything we put our minds to, even in the face of challenging circumstances. So much of Elizabeth’s character revolves around building herself up and building up the women around her.. she somewhat reminds me of Jessica Chastain’s character in The Help? (Another incredible book/movie adaptation!) She doesn’t care that society’s expectations of her dictate a certain kind of life. The book’s take on what women really go through in the most thankless job in the world: motherhood and ‘keeping house’ are insights that we all truly need! Elizabeth views herself as a scientist but knows, by experience, female scientists are virtually non-existent. Ten days before graduating with her master's degree from UCLA, the admissions committee rescinded her application to the doctoral program. Ironically, I think this might work better as a sit-com than a book. It has elements of Stepford Wives and Desperate Housewives, with a dash of Edward Scissorhands. Lessons in Chemistry is such a powerful book without being preachy, and I greatly look forward to reading this one again.

I loved the author's extra-intelligent, dark, original sense of humor, and I fell in love with her characters. The story of Elizabeth brought out so many complex feelings: I laughed, I got angry, I cried, I sighed, I laughed again, and as soon as I finished the last chapter, I gave my ovation! This is an underrated secret gem! Don't you dare skip this book or let it sit in your TBR pile. Just read it! First of all this is described as "laugh out loud", it isn't. It's also described as being in the same vein as 'The Marvellous Mrs Maisel,' it isn't. Anything less than a 5-star review for Bonnie Garmus’s debut novel is a minority opinion, so take my 4-star So this book centres on Elizabeth Zott, an impossibly intelligent woman with perfect 21st-century politics (also she's beautiful but she doesn't, like, care about that) who's been inexplicably plopped into a 1950s setting. She's a self-taught chemist, working on abiogenesis, which the book appears to think can low-key disprove religion (this book has a very weird relationship to religion - edgelord atheist vibes), but because it's the 1950s, she's forced out of her doctoral programme and undervalued at work. She strikes up a relationship with a powerful chemist who adores her, but he dies in an accident, leaving her unwed, pregnant and fired, doing consultation work so the men at her old lab can actually understand their results. Undeterred, she builds a lab at home, and ends up getting hired to a local cooking programme, which she converts into a serious scientific cooking programme that the housewives of America love because She Treats Them Like Adults. Elizabeth Zott is not your average person. She’s a brilliant, highly trained scientist who hasn’t gotten farther along in the world of chemistry simply because she’s a woman. She is working at the Hastings Institute performing a job that she is completely over qualified for!this book should be shelved in the fantasy section. Seriously. It’s fantasy. Which is fine, but if I had known I would have skipped it. The switch between fantastical elements and serious ones gave me whiplash. Anything less than a 5-star review for Bonnie Garmus’s debut novel is a minority opinion, so take my 4-star thoughts with a grain of salt. Or as the book’s heroine Elizabeth Zott would say, a grain of sodium chloride. Through some crazy, at times hilarious encounter, she meets Calvin Evans. He is a gangly sort of guy but also a brilliant scientist and well-known at the Hastings Institute. Calvin had an intense love for rowing, that’s why he accepted the job at this lowly Institute when he could have been doing research at any number of universities. He came to California for the nice weather and the ability to row all year long. 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.

Elizabeth Zott has a very strong sense of self, and she doesn't allow people to talk her into things.

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Her blunt and honest comments about marriage, religion, and society's norms will be considered rebellious and unconventional. An insightful, part tear-jerker, truly hilarious at times work with more than enough charisma to make you want to be the best version of yourself? That is Bonnie Garmus’s masterpiece: Lessons In Chemistry. Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shown An 'unfortunate event' happened and Elizabeth actions were determined to be the cause. She knows that getting her PhD is no longer possible but she'll never give up her dream. Her only regret is not having more No. 2 pencils to use when the 'unfortunate event' took place! On par with Beth Harmon of The Queen's Gambit, 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

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide) 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.

We fast-forward to see Elizabeth building a new life, raising her four-year-old, extra-smart, one-of-a-kind, sweetest girl named Mad Zott, helping their dog Six-Thirty improve his vocabulary skills, and most importantly, she's a TV star now! She teaches women to use chemistry not only in their kitchen but in their entire life to embrace change and challenges. She hosts the most eccentric cooking show called "Supper at Six." The book centers on Elizabeth Zott, a determined chemist in the 1950's and 1960's, who experiences intense sexism and detractors. Elizabeth is ANNOYING. Like…SO annoying. Both my parents have PhDs in research chemistry and I can attest to the fact that they call salt SALT and vinegar VINEGAR. And they know how to have social interactions with other humans.🙄 Because they aren’t PRETENTIOUS!! Also, it’s unrealistic that just because she knows one area of chemistry she automatically knows how to cook and knows all the biological reactions that occur in the body. There are a million different avenues of chemistry, and food science is COMPLETELY different than “abiogenesis” which was supposedly her main area of study. So you’re telling me she’s just an expert at literally all chemistry? 🤔 I call BS. Elizabeth Zott is the EPITOME of a “I’m not like other girls” girl. No please.✋🏼 Women can be smart AND socially adept.

Elizabeth Zott, a research chemist at Hastings Research Institute, believes in equality, not a popular opinion in 1952. The all male research team she works with talks down to her rather than appreciating her as the driving force behind their projects. She's weary of males talking over her when she presents her findings and taking credit for her work. Most probably “on the spectrum” ( though this wasn’t recognized as such in the 1960’s) and most DEFINITELY ahead of her time, refusing to accept the status quo. I'd recommend reading Jan's review ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), because it gets at a lot of the stuff I had an issue with in this book.)I adored chemist Elizabeth Zott. She's trying to exist in the "good old boys" world of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Where the woman's place is in the home, remaining silent, and following along with what the men say. Yet Elizabeth isn't wired that way, and the journey of this book shows her humor, warmth, and intelligence in a way that baffles the status quo. Elizabeth Zott has a brilliant mind, so she believes but not a view shared by many men, except Calvin Evans. A man who has created his own rule book and because of his prized work is revered. Yet a man who shares Elizabeth’s passion for chemistry, igniting a romance and a discovery of soul mates that was not destined to last, when Calvin’s life was cut short prematurely.