Lessons in Chemistry

Alice’s recent FAVORITE read is Lessons in Chemistry, a novel by Bonnie Garmus. Meet Elizabeth Zott, a brainy chemist who loves being in a lab digging into abiogenesis. (Yes, she had to look that up and it’s a real subject about the origin of life). The only trouble is she’s living in 1960s California where her boss and colleagues are male and women aren’t supposed to be in the lab cooking up experiments. The only cooking they’re supposed to do is in the kitchen. A woman who suffers no fools and doesn’t believe in keeping quiet about being stereotyped and dismissed, Zott ironically does end up in a kitchen making a living. But it’s on a smash TV show called Supper at Six, where she whips up a meal, showing how cooking is chemistry and women have more power than they think. Funny, witty, great writing that delivers multiple meanings and don’t be fooled by the cutesy cover.

Bottom line: if Elizabeth Zott was a real person, she’d be our next Remarkable Woman of the Week.