Lessons in Chemistry...#BookReview

About the book:

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.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but 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 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.

Elizabeth Zott is prickly and ahead of her time. She's a female scientist in a male-dominated field. She's progressive in a time when women are supposed to stay at home. Determined to succeed on her own terms, she's thwarted time and again because of misogynistic men. After falling in love and finding herself fired from her job for being pregnant, Elizabeth ends up the host of a cooking show. Her style and personality shouldn't work, but her female audience adores her.

I like Elizabeth and honestly, if the author didn't write her as on the Autism spectrum, she certainly could be. Her drive to do what she wants and on her terms and the difficulty she has in seeing the perspective of others, but having thoughtful insight was so familiar to me. Her progressive views often seemed more 21st century than 1950s, but it was the 60s and 70s where women were starting to push back against inequality and she fit right in.

 

The science aspect and how Elizabeth so naturally uses chemistry not only to cook, but also to describe the cooking process was well done.

A fantastic supporting cast  carries the story even more than Elizabeth does. Madeline is intelligent and precocious and I adored her. She was too smart and insightful for even a gifted 8-year old, let alone the 5-year old she was supposed to be, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief, because she was absolutely delightful. 

And Six-Thirty, the dog? Brilliant and a perfect complement to Elizabeth and Madeline. My dog is more human than animal and so I loved Six-Thirty.

There are dark aspects of assault and death and there are laugh out loud funny moments that balance them. I found myself highlighting passages and quotes. I read a section to The Doctor.

As with most "best-sellers" and popular books, I find them after everyone else. And they often don't live up to the hype. In looking at reviews, Lessons in Chemistry is one of those books that people either love or hate and the hate is visceral. I absolutely adored it. I will read it again and it will become a favorite in my reread stack.

I enjoyed this book. I read it in an afternoon because I couldn't put it down. Is it perfect? No. Is it flawed? Yes. Did it resonate with me? So much.

The Apple TV series is a fantastic adaption.

Read 7/23

* * * *

4/5 Stars