“Courage is the root of change—and change is what we’re chemically designed to do.”
― Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry
Imagine being listened to for the first time in your life. What would you say? For Elizabeth Zott, the hero of Bonnie Garmus’ masterpiece Lessons in Chemistry, the answer is surprisingly uncomplicated: “Why didn’t you listen before?”
As learners of history, many think of the 1950s as America’s “golden years,” envisioning a rosy, idealistic suburban society. For every female scholar, however, the 1950s might conjure up a different reality: a society that was built to undermine and obstruct women. The idea that women were incompetent and unfit, destined to fulfill household duties, and even overdramatic liars over matters of sexual misconduct was pervasive in every comment, every advertisement, every tv show and every movie. “Sometimes,” Garmus writes, “I think that if a man were to spend a day being a woman in America, he wouldn’t make it past noon.” Emerging from a fictional parallel of this world is Elizabeth. She knows as well as any woman the challenges of her era, but unlike many she has yet to stop pushing those boundaries. Elizabeth is a chemist. Her research? On the cusp of massive breakthroughs. She sees the world in categories and compounds, in formulas and hypotheses. One thing she cannot predict, however, is losing the love of her life, with a baby on the way.
Left brokenhearted, fired, and now a single mother, Elizabeth’s one passion has been ripped away by men who don’t understand the significance of both her experiment and her existence. All she has left is an empty home, a theory on abiogenesis, and a dog named Six Thirty. At her lowest, she takes a job as the host of a new tv show: Supper At Six, teaching mothers how to cook. After all, cooking is just chemistry, with delicious results. What Elizabeth doesn’t expect, however, is a job she took to pay the bills rocketing into a platform of change. Suddenly, the world is listening. Elizabeth is determined to use this platform, and to take advantage of any power she has earned, after learning first hand how fleeting these victories can be for her. As Garmus writes about opportunity, “Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun.” What will she say? And how will the world react to her message?
Elizabeth spends the rest of the story answering this question. Garmus tackles the historical prejudices and difficult themes Elizabeth is struggling with while also demonstrating creativity and humor. Her book combines a romcom with political commentary, into something of a romantic commentary, if you will, and bounces between multiple perspectives, even including her dog’s opinions! She layers complex characters with enough personal motivations and obstacles to make any reader feel as though they live next door. The frank voice Garmus writes in, and the matter-of-fact nature of Elizabeth herself, distinguishes her character from any other 1950s woman, making her story and struggles, while incredibly common for the time, unique to every reader.
Garmus balances the heavy topics inherent in the novel’s time period well, with humor, love, heartbreak, religion, criminal activity, and a ton of cooking. Her personal chemistry knowledge comes through, lending a sense of authenticity to Elizabeth’s studies, and she speaks plainly and honestly about the world she depicts. Unlike many authors, Garmus describes her characters like real people, with real flaws, selfish motives, and average appearances. She plays with perspective, tangling the idea of good and bad characters by revealing such masterful character arcs that in the end, every minor person and background actor in Elizabeth’s life suddenly makes perfect sense. Nobody, not even the dog, is two-dimensional.
The difficult balance between writing such an important and historically accurate story, with creating a real world and making it entertaining seems nearly impossible, but Garmus pulls it off. Readers will laugh, cry, swoon, and sweat, waiting to see what Elizabeth and everyone in her life decides to do next. Recently adapted into a TV series starring Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry is not only a unique and important commentary on women’s accomplishments and challenges, but also a truly entertaining and life changing novel that everyone deserves the pleasure of enjoying. Don’t start reading unless you have a full fridge at your disposal, as the descriptions of Elizabeth’s recipes will make any stomach growl.
5 Paws
