Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
| I don't know what to say about this fantastic debut novel except WOW! This is a must-read for BabyBoomers and Millenials alike. This book shows that as difficult it is to be a woman with a career now, you don't have anything over the women who were cracking the doors open for you. However, this is not an easy read and may set off some triggers. At times this book is funny; at times, it is downright tragic and almost always ends up with you as a woman reader being frustrated. Unfortunately, things like this are still occurring even at the mid-turn of the century. This book takes place in the late 1950s, then moves on to the early 1960s, when women were just starting to realize their worth as more than just homemakers and mothers. Actually, a lot of this ideology started during WWII, but that is not important to this novel. But more than a books book about the unfairness to women searching for something different, this is a love story, a mystery, a chic-lit novel, as it were. This was one of the most fabulous books I have read so far this year. I found myself laughing, crying, frustrated and jumping with joy. I just wish it had been longer. I highly recommend this book to all readers. *ARC was supplied by the publisher, Doubleday Books, NetGalley, and the author. Many thanks. |
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SYNOPSIS:
"A delight for readers of Where'd You Go, Bernadette and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, this blockbuster debut set in 1960s California features the singular voice of Elizabeth Zott, a scientist whose career takes a detour when she becomes the star of a beloved TV cooking show.
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."
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."
