Lessons in Chemistry

 

Author: Bonnie Garmus

Absolutely loved reading this book! First off, it has humor which just wins me over every single time. Secondly, it is about a woman in science back in the day. Lastly, it is about a woman who survived a man's world. Yes some parts are fantasy like and I was willing to ride along since it was so much to read!

Elizabeth is a chemist even though it's very hard to be one in world that she's living in. She was never able to get her degree even though she completed all her work because she complained about the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her advisor. Yes that's the kind of world she was living in. She did manage to get a job at a research institute and needless to say even though people around her know how capable and knowledgeable she is, nobody is willing to give her that respect because they know they don' need to. In that time, women were only secretaries, not scientists. Except one well respected scientist Calvin. And guess what they fall in love. Theirs is as perfect a relationship as possible, built on mutual respect. When something is too good to be true, I turns out it is. Calvin dies in an accident and Elizabeth is left alone and pregnant. She's sacked from her workplace so she decides to build lab inside her home. She guts out the kitchen and builds a lab which serves as her kitchen and a lab. She starts working there and also provides consulting to her employees back at the research institute. They in turn steal her work. Tired and exhausted from this world, when she's offered a job as the host of a cooking show that will pay well she decides to take that up even though she doesn't want to. In all this, she finds a friend in her neighbor who also helps take care of her daughter when needed.  She is also teaching her dog English because there's no text that says that dogs can' learn a language! And her daughter is a prodigy who knows the periodic table and understands religion at the age of 5! All these aspects add to the fun part of the story. Read on to find out what happens to Elizabeth.

As I was writing this review, I remembered there were quite a few parts of the story that seemed out of this world and then you would come across the grim realities of the world. I enjoyed that especially because they were adding to the positive side of the story.