Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus, 2022
Historical fiction RomanceContemporary fictionYoung adult
A 1960s chemist is pushed out of the lab, becomes an unlikely television cook, and refuses — flatly, unsmilingly — to be diminished. A brisk, witty story with a plain-spoken, unsmiling voice, family warmth at its center and a steady sense of wonder at chemistry and stubborn independence.
Feels like wonder. About ambition, family and friendship.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy period stories about work, friendship and family, told with dry humor and a stubborn heroine. The 1960s sexism is blunt and constant, and Elizabeth's flat, unsmiling manner can feel cool if you want a warmer narrator.
Why read it
It gives you a clear-eyed look at unfair work and a woman who answers with competence and dry wit, without asking for sympathy.
A page from the book
The things a parent writes when she has stopped softening the truth.
Fuel for learning, Elizabeth Zott wrote on a small slip of paper before tucking it into her daughter’s lunch box. Then she paused, her pencil in midair, as if reconsidering. Play sports at recess but do not automatically let the boys win, she wrote on another slip. Then she paused again, tapping her pencil against the table. It is not your imagination, she wrote on a third. Most people are awful. She placed the last two on top. Bonnie Garmus.Lessons in Chemistry was Garmus's debut, published in 2022 when she was in her sixties, after a career as a copywriter and creative director; it became an Apple TV series.
Books that feel like this
More by Bonnie Garmus
Μαθήματα χημείας
Bonnie Garmus, 2022
A chemist with a fierce mind and no patience for being underestimated becomes the unlikely star of a 1960s cooking show, and refuses to shrink.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is Lessons in Chemistry for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy period stories about work, friendship and family, told with dry humor and a stubborn heroine. The 1960s sexism is blunt and constant, and Elizabeth's flat, unsmiling manner can feel cool if you want a warmer narrator.
- What is Lessons in Chemistry like?
- A brisk, witty story with a plain-spoken, unsmiling voice, family warmth at its center and a steady sense of wonder at chemistry and stubborn independence. Feels like wonder. About ambition, family and friendship.
- What should I read after Lessons in Chemistry?
- If you liked Lessons in Chemistry, try The Thursday Murder Club (Richard Osman), Carrie Soto Is Back (Taylor Jenkins Reid) and The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (James McBride).
A taste of the feed
A confession in the tone of someone recommending a good restaurant.
Uccidere qualcuno è semplice. È quando si tratta di occultare la salma che viene il difficile. È così che finisci per farti beccare. Ma se incappi nel posto giusto, puoi tirare il fiato. È fatta. Io ho avuto la fortuna di trovare il posto perfetto. Ci vengo ancora, di tanto in tanto, solo per dare un’occhiata e controllare che sia tutto in ordine. Ma non c’è niente da vedere, e credo che mai ci sarà. A volte mi fumo una sigaretta. So che non dovrei, ma è l’unico vizio che mi è rimasto.
The Thursday Murder Club · Richard Osman
A father pretends not to care about the cameras. His daughter knows better.
My father shakes his head. “Lo dudo.” He barely moves his lips when he talks, his eye consciously avoiding the camera. I have no doubt that tomorrow morning, my father will open the paper and scan the sports pages looking for his photo. He will smile to himself when he sees that he looks nothing short of handsome. Although he lost weight earlier this year from the rounds of chemo he endured, he is cancer-free now. His body has bounced back. His color looks good.
Carrie Soto Is Back · Taylor Jenkins Reid
The care it takes to make a question visible.
“You got a hole in your head, son? Was you riding the train this morning? Was that you?” Nate gently touched one of the boy’s hands. They were freezing. He placed the lamp high, holding it so that his lips could be seen. The boy had not been born deaf. An accident killed his hearing. A stove blew up in his mother’s kitchen when he was nine. Killed his eyes and ears. His eyes came back. His ears did not. But he could read lips. Nate held the lamp next to his face so Dodo could see them.
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store · James McBride
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