Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel

Details: Product Description GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • A must-read debut! Meet Elizabeth Zott: a one-of-a-kind 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).“It's the world versus Elizabeth Zott, an extraordinary woman determined to live on her own terms, and I had no trouble choosing a side.... A page-turning and highly satisfying tale: zippy, zesty, and Zotty.”—Maggie Shipstead, best-selling author of Great Circle ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF THE YEAR—New York Times, Bustle, Real Simple, Parade, CNN, Today, E! News, Library JournalChemist 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.  Amazon.com Review An Amazon Best Book of April 2022: If you’re looking for delicious hilarity, characters filled with competency and quirk, and pure entertainment, then read Bonnie Garmus’ exuberant novel Lessons in Chemistry. Elizabeth Zott is an ambitious and accomplished scientist and is determined to be just that—and only that. But as we all know, life has a way of upending plans, and that’s exactly what happens to the inspiring (and at times, hilariously infuriating) Zott: Cupid’s arrow hits and the next thing you know she’s a mother and a TV cooking star. But in changing the kitchens of 1960’s America, Zott also challenges the status quo and that’s not exactly welcome in some circles. Lessons in Chemistry is a lot of fun to read: giddy laughter will bubble up but so too will your respect and admiration for a fearless and strong-willed woman who dares to be herself, in any circumstance. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor Review GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK“Feminism is the catalyst that makes [Lessons in Chemistry] fizz like hydrochloric acid on limestone. Elizabeth Zott does not have ‘moxie’; she has courage. She is not a ‘girl boss’ or a ‘lady chemist’; she’s a groundbreaker and an expert in abiogenesis...To file Elizabeth Zott among the pink razors of the book world is to miss the sharpness of Garmus’s message. Lessons in Chemistry will make you wonder about all the real-life women born ahead of their time—women who were sidelined, ignored and worse because they weren’t as resourceful, determined and lucky as Elizabeth Zott. She’s a reminder of how far we’ve come, but also how far we still have to go.”—New York Times Book Review"[Garmus] delivers an assured voice, an indelible heroine and relatable love stories...At the center of the novel is Elizabeth Zott, a gifted research chemist, absurdly self-assured and immune to social convention...Elizabeth is a feminist and modern thinker […] in a world nowhere ready for her mind, character or ambition...[Garmus] charm[s]. She’s created an indelible assemblage of stubborn, idiosyncratic cha