If you can get past that opening, the rest of the book is fast-paced and entertaining, although I still don’t think I laughed out loud. Someone - the publisher? the marketing team? the author? - should have thought about this a little more. How many people who picked up this book expecting something upbeat and silly found themselves triggered by this unexpected scene? After finishing the book, I started googling reviews, and see that there are more than a few people who walked away from the book based on that scene. I repeat, a book described as “laugh-out-loud funny” has a vividly described rape scene at the very beginning, and then never deals with the aftereffects in terms of trauma and survival, only focusing on the very practical impact on Elizabeth’s science career. However (and this is a big HOWEVER):Ĭontent warning: There is a rape scene right near the start of the book.

The synopsis describes the book as “laugh-out-loud funny”, and yes, there are funny moments. In this case, there’s one plot point that I wish I’d known in advance. I intentionally avoided reading reviews ahead of time, since I wanted to go in without preconceptions. After seeing this book’s weekly appearance on bestseller lists, the Goodreads Choice award buzz, and its selection as Barnes & Noble’s book of the year for 2022, I decided to give it a try - and while I’m glad that I did, I also have a few issues with the book. I’ve finally given in to the hype surrounding Lessons in Chemistry. 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. She’s daring them to change the status quo. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. 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. True chemistry results.īut like science, life is unpredictable. Except for one: Calvin Evans the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with-of all things-her mind. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality.

In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman.

Lessons in chemistry bonnie