Lessons in Chemistry

July 2022 - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

While walking around Park Circle, our eclectic North Charleston neighborhood, I discovered Itinerant Literate Books. I must be out of the loop since it's been around since 2015. In my defense, it started as a bookmobile and I'm not sure how long it's been in its current location. It's a small store with a "curated" selection of books. Their entire inventory might fit in my car. I was tempted to try. It's hard to choose just one. 

But I did. I chose Lessons in Chemistry. 

I didn't know anything about this novel. I didn't read anything about it, not a review, not the blurbs on the cover. The sticker on the cover announced that it was selected for the Good Morning America Book Club. I didn't know Good Morning America had a book club. I liked the bright neon cover. It looked like it would be sassy. Was it a romance? I wasn't sure. 

But with the Supreme Court decisions and my general dissatisfaction with how things are going in the world, I needed a lighthearted distraction. And Lessons in Chemistry looked like it might be fun.

Lessons in Chemistry turned out to be a lesson in synchronicity. There were so many personal connections, I hardly know where to start.

But I think I'll start with the last thing I learned about this book. Lessons in Chemistry is Bonnie Garmus's debut novel, and Bonnie Garmus is 64 years old! Isn't that amazing? And inspiring? And something worth celebrating in and of itself? On top of that, Lessons in Chemistry is fun and sassy and subversive!

I love subversive. 

The novel is set in 1960s California, where Elizabeth Zott is a chemist. She is brilliant, but her work is continually demeaned by the men she works with until she meets Calvin Evans, also a brilliant chemist. It is a romance! Well, sort of…but not a regular one by any stretch.

There is romance but the novel also boldly calls out the illogical nature of religion, the patriarchy, the education system, and the institution of marriage. Sounds like heavy stuff, but the novel is playful and idiosyncratic. Societal dictates and circumstances continually beat down Elizabeth Zott, but she is a resilient woman. Nevertheless she persisted.

Elizabeth's dog, named Six-Thirty, reminded me of one of my early, early favorite books - maybe you know it, I'll Teach My Dog 100 Words by Michael K. Firth? Just last week, my cousin's four-year-old granddaughter brought this book to me as I sat on the couch in their beach rental at Isle of Palms. I read it in record time because she seemed to be losing interest. I don't want to give anything away, but the book is about teaching a dog 100 words.

Elizabeth is more ambitious and her dog is exceptional. Six-Thirty learns 391 words by Chapter 16 or as he tells you, he really understands 390.

Six-Thirty and the humans in the novel provide frequent reminders that people are animals, too. Maybe we could dispense with the idea that we humans are superior to every other species on the planet. Even though most of our dogs aren't going to be quite as capable as Six-Thirty, we might consider all the things the dog knows that we do not. As someone once said, "My dog knows several words in English and I know zero words in dog."

If you are at all interested in a fun read that questions tradition, suggests that women be treated as individuals, reminds us all of the challenges and importance of women in the home and at work, and feels a little like a grown-up version of A Series of Unfortunate Events, then pick up Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Gamus. It will make you laugh amid the tragedy.