Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus won Barnes and Nobles Book of the Year for 2022. This book has been on my list for a long time, and it did not disappoint.
Elizabeth Zott is a female chemist in 1960s in California. She is intelligent, confident, and speaks her mind. She works at Hastings Research Institute with an all male team. Here she meets Calvin Evans, the Nobel prize nominated scientist who she steals science supplies from. He not only falls for her but loves her for her determination and mind. We learn about the tragic life of Calvin's childhood and how he grew up in foster care, loves rowing, and is a runner when running was not popular. The police would get frequent calls that a man was running in the neighborhood. Calvin "had never even gotten through Dale Carnegie's book about making friends and influencing people because 10 pages in he realized he didn't care about what anyone else thought."
Elizabeth and Calvin move in together. So not only is Elizabeth having a career over being a housewife, she now lives with a man she is not married to. They end up getting a dog named six-thirty. We read about six-thirty's point of view and how he cares for his owners and helps them through-out the book. He is sweet and loving. Most of the other scientists and co-workers at Hastings think that "the rules don't apply to Zott and Evans." Six-thirty comes to work with them and does not get put on a leash.
We read about all the things Elizabeth has to overcome: Sexism in the workplace, male scientists taking credit for her work, sexual assault, being told that she is not smart enough to be a scientist, and being fired for being pregnant.
Fast forward a few years and not only did Elizabeth turn her kitchen into a lab, but she gets an offer to host a TV program about cooking. Elizabeth has always been a wonderful cook, and when she sends her daughter Madeline (called Mad) with the most delicious meals for school lunch another parent takes notice. Supper at six becomes highly popular. Elizabeth takes an unusal approach to cooking and likes to use the scientific terms for ingredients. "Combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride." She likes to make nutritious meals that are good for your family. The producer wants her to cook with a can of soup one day because they are a sponser for the show. Elizabeth holds up the can and tells the audience that the can of soup is poison and to not serve it to your family. Elizabeth does not want to follow cue cards and chooses to wears pants and a lab coat much to the dismay of the producer Walter. "Cooking is chemistry, and chemistry is life. Your ability to change everything-including yourself starts here."
I loved this book. It was funny and heartwarming, but also had parts that were a little dark and graphic at times. I loved the strong independent Elizabeth, the love story of her and Calvin, and reading the view point of their dog six-thirty. After all the struggles that Elizabeth goes through makes me cheer for her all the more. She never backs down and wants one thing: to be treated as a chemist and her work to be taken seriously.
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