Lessons in Chemistry

I was hesitating to pick up this book, because I didn't know if I'd enjoy a book, where the protagonist is in love with chemistry (silly, I know, but high school left its mark on me). Boy am I happy I decided to give it a shot!

The premise is fairly simple - Elizabeth Zott vs. the patriarchy and sexism of 1950s. Elizabeth is a chemist, she's unmarried and later has a child out of wedlock. She's direct, says exactly what she thinks and calls people out on their crap. Her refusal to play the game and stroke men's egos and patiently pretend she's not bothered by the discrimination and sexual harrassement is what costs her her opportunity to obtain a doctorate. When she becomes pregnant, she's given the sack. A new opportunity arises when she (after some hesitation) becomes the host of a new cooking show, where she decides to teach women some chemistry on the side and mainly their worth.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing is so good, it felt like nothing is just fluff. I especially applaud Bonnie Garmus on her chemistry/science lingo, since from what I gathered she herself is not a chemist. I feel like there was really good balance between the narrator's voice, which felt kind of snarky at times and it was amazing, and direct speech combined with looking into the character's point of view or their inner thoughts. The book is also funny and the humour is dry and kind of sassy, just like Elizabeth herself.

The characters were also super well written, none of them were flat and I think all of them were interesting - except for Calvin, who was kind of boring to me (sorry Calvin). I can see how Elizabeth could be annoying to some readers, but because the book has such strong feminist theme, she makes me feel connected to all the women before me who stood up for women's rights (and she is also shown supporting the civil right's movement), she just feels like an adopted ancestress. Her daughter is the “kid genius” kind of trope, but she still reads as a child and is likeable. I also appreciated that the men in the book have a variety of character and are not as despicable as Elizabeth's boss.

The only thing that was a bummer was the beginning - it takes a whole half of the book to get to the cooking show, which is presented as the main premise. I feel like the backstory of Elizabeth and Calvin dragged on a bit and I'd welcome if it were swifter. Also sometimes the role of Six-Thirty, Elizabeth's dog, seemed a bit off, can't quite say why. But except that I feel like the story was very well built, it included one of my favourite tropes, the found family. And the ending was splendid.

All in all, I really recommend!