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A review by lucyatoz
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is an interesting novel, featuring a wonderfully developed and intelligent character in Elizabeth Zott, Chemist.
The book is mainly set in the early 1960's. This is a time when a woman working as a scientist, in any scientific field, was unusual. The only other female scientist I could name would be Marie Curie, winning a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. Elizabeth is an independent individual who refused to live by the expectations and sexist attitudes of her time. The story of Elizabeth's journey as a woman who falls in love, has a child out of wedlock and becomes a working, single mother, has threads of narrative that many today can relate to. She ultimately becomes the star of a television cooking show, which acquires a legion fans who are housewives, and it dares them to make a difference and to change the status quo.
Lessons in Chemistry is a delightful book with much humour, some of it dark whilst it other times it is almost laugh out loud! It is also a historic view on gender roles and society's expectations of women, although some of these still exist today.
The book is mainly set in the early 1960's. This is a time when a woman working as a scientist, in any scientific field, was unusual. The only other female scientist I could name would be Marie Curie, winning a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. Elizabeth is an independent individual who refused to live by the expectations and sexist attitudes of her time. The story of Elizabeth's journey as a woman who falls in love, has a child out of wedlock and becomes a working, single mother, has threads of narrative that many today can relate to. She ultimately becomes the star of a television cooking show, which acquires a legion fans who are housewives, and it dares them to make a difference and to change the status quo.
Lessons in Chemistry is a delightful book with much humour, some of it dark whilst it other times it is almost laugh out loud! It is also a historic view on gender roles and society's expectations of women, although some of these still exist today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Abandonment, Bullying, Death, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Child death