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A Novel
by Bonnie GarmusA must-read debut! Meet Elizabeth Zott: a "formidable, unapologetic and inspiring" (Parade) scientist in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show in this novel that is "irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel. It reminds you that change takes time and always requires heat" (The New York Times Book Review).
New York Times Bestseller • Good Morning America Book Club • One of NPR's Best Books of 2022 • One of the Most Anticipated Books of the Year—New York Times, Bustle, Real Simple, Parade, CNN, Today, E! News, Library Journal
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.
Chapter 1
November 1961
Back in 1961, when women wore shirtwaist dresses and joined garden clubs and drove legions of children around in seatbeltless cars without giving it a second thought; back before anyone knew there'd even be a sixties movement, much less one that its participants would spend the next sixty years chronicling; back when the big wars were over and the secret wars had just begun and people were starting to think fresh and believe everything was possible, the thirty-year-old mother of Madeline Zott rose before dawn every morning and felt certain of just one thing: her life was over.
Despite that certainty, she made her way to the lab to pack her daughter's lunch.
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 ...
What are you reading this week? (5/1/2025)
Pride and prejudice (as audiobook) 52 Weeks a party of one - Bianca Pensy Aba Story of my life - Lucy Score Lessons in chemistry - Bonnie Garmus Anything you do say - Gillian McAllister The assistant - Winter K. Willis The Griffin sisters' greatest hits - Jennifer Weiner All very excellent books ...
-Marijana_Bankovic
Overall, what did you think of Lessons in Chemistry? (No spoilers, please!)
This book is one of my favorites. I've recommended it countless times. I love the story line, the quirkiness of the characters (including the dog) and crazy TV show. I had the pleasure of meeting Bonnie Garmus and she was so gracious - it made me like the book even more. I wish I had a chance to ...
-Mary_S
What are you reading this week? (04/24/2025)
Pride and prejudice - Jane Austen 52 weeks a party of one - Bianca Pensy Aba Story of my life - Lucy Score The story she left behind - Patti Callahan Henry Lessons in chemistry - Bonnie Garmus Anything you do say - Gillian McAllister The assistant - Winter K. Willis The Griffin Sisters' Greatest ...
-Marijana_Bankovic
What are you reading this week? (4/17/2025)
I just received my copy of Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus in the mail on Friday and am enjoying it. It is more humorous than I anticipated. I am also reading The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin.
-Dee_Hatcher
What are you reading this week? (04/10/2025)
Ok bear with me: Story of my life by Lucy Score The story she left behind by Patti Callahan Henry Lessons in chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Anything you do say by Gillian McAllister The assistant by Winter K. Willis The firm by John Grisham The Griffin sisters' greatest hits by Jennifer W...
-Marijana_Bankovic
About the Lessons in Chemistry BookBrowse Discussion category
Please join BookBrowse in our book club discussion of Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
-system
What is your book club reading in 2025?
...AY THE WORLD CAME TO TOWN by Jim Defied - November 2024 THE MAIDENS by Alex Michaelides - December 2024 THE DUTCH HOUSE by Ann Patchet - January 2025 LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus - February 2025 YOU'LL NEVER KNOW DEAR by Hallie Ephron - March 2025 PARK AVENUE SUMMER by Renee Rosen - April 2025 THE ROARING DAYS OF ZORA LILY Noe...
-Elizabeth
Bonnie Garmus's debut, Lessons in Chemistry, introduces readers to an exceptional woman struggling to succeed in a male-dominated field. Garmus sets her novel in the days before the Equal Rights Amendment and the #MeToo movement, when most men — and many women as well — believed that any woman who dared to enter a traditional men's profession was either "a lightweight or a gold digger," in the author's words. One might assume the novel is a dark, weighty exploration of the sexual discrimination rampant during the 1950s and early 1960s. Amazingly, it's really not; although the book's substance depends largely on this theme, its overall tone is positive and affirming...continued
Full Review
(766 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
In Lessons In Chemistry, the main character is the reluctant host of a popular TV cooking show.
Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay and Rachael Ray are just a few of the many modern TV chefs who’ve become household names. Cooking shows are now not only daytime television staples; they're featured in the primetime lineup. Such was not always the case.
The first cooking shows were produced for the radio. Dr. Édouard de Pomiane, a French food scientist and writer, hosted what's likely the first, starting in 1923. His weekly program on Radio Paris featured stories about his experiences in the kitchen as well as recipes for home cooks.
U.S. advertisers soon took notice of the program's popularity. In 1921, food ...
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