Lessons in Chemistry

I'm all in for a first time novelist making her literary debut at 64 and absolutely killing it. You might dismiss this as a feminist fairytale set in the 1960's if it wasn't for the fact the writing is just so delightfully sharp and fun. Naturally Elizabeth Zott is at once gorgeous, smart and fearless - the love of her life Calvin Evans is a Nobel Prize nominated scientific wunderkind, her kid is clearly a genius in the making, and even their dog Six-Thirty is a thoughtful animal with a growing understanding of English words under his collar. Even when Elizabeth Zott begrudgingly transitions out of the labs of the Hastings Research Institute and into the mid afternoon slot as the host of a TV cooking show, her Supper at Six inevitably becomes a nationwide sensation. This smart but wacky ensemble can't help bring to mind the equally lovely Where'd You Go Bernadette - and like Maria Semple's book, Lessons in Chemistry is also coming out with its own adaptation featuring Brie Larson.

But it's not all sugar and spice here, Elizabeth has to contend with misogyny, petty jealousies, dismissiveness, sexual assault and intense grief to say nothing of the sheer nail biting unknown of being a first time mom. This isn't an overburdened, navel gazing examination of feminist empowerment - I can only imagine how plodding and morose it might have been if this were about a man - rather this is a wry story of one woman's satisfying engagement with adversity, being underestimated and getting it done in spite of it all. Sure it follows a sort of too good to be true bookish logic and conventional story arc that nonetheless should not get in the way of enjoying what is an entirely entertaining, fist pumping read.