Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

I really enjoyed this book. I loved Elizabeth, Mad, Six-Thirty, and all the secondary characters that weren’t rapists or misogynistic pieces of shit. There were lots of laugh out load moments. There was also so much that made me so mad because the early 1960’s were an absolute shitshow, and women (and a very long list of people who weren’t white men) had absolutely no power. And what really fucking sticks in my craw, is that here we are over 60 years later, allowing more white fucking men take away marginalised peoples rights. And the real kicker? White women are out there fucking helping!!!

“Chemistry is change and change is the core of your belief system. Which is good because that’s what we need more of—people who refuse to accept the status quo, who aren’t afraid to take on the unacceptable.”

This had its light moments, and its funny moments, but my biggest takeaway was how the patriarchy sucks and will continue to so as long as we allow these fuckwads to be in charge. I dunno man, there needs to be like several revolutions!

I’ve started to watch this on Apple TV, I’m only one episode in, and I foresee them making changes that are likely for the best, but it also feels like it’s ‘glossing’ over some of the particularly dark moments from the book. Moments that were tough to read, but also moments that are all too common. It’s early days yet though!

Synopsis:

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.