Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Hello there!  March 6th already.  Mrs. Paredes sent out the tentative end of year event calendar to teachers for review. This year is flying by!

This is the next book in my Teachers and Friends Book Club.  Since there is a cooking element, we are having a cook-off hosted by Mrs. Tirollo in two weeks.  

I thought this was going to be laugh out loud funny.  I did smile big a couple times, but I did not find it hilarious.  So just know my particular brand of humor didn't match up to Amazon's description.  Instead, I found this to be quite a statement about women's history in America, the history of entertainment and women in the television industry, the role of women in the 50s and 60s, the lack of women in sciences (or at least being credited for their work, and the place of the mother in the American family.  

Elizabeth is a brilliant chemist seeking her PhD when she is assaulted by her advisor.  The police and university take his side, and she is thrown out of the program.  She ends up working in a lab, but never being viewed as "smart enough".  Still trying to work on her theories, she steals equipment from legendary chemist Calvin Evans.  They fall in love, but refuse to marry, causing a scandal when they live together.  They adopt a stray dog and name him Six Thirty.  Calvin and Six Thirty are hit by a car, and Calvin is killed.  Elizabeth learns she is pregnant and is terminated from her employment.  

Years later, barely scraping by, Elizabeth's daughter Madeline gets into trouble at school when Mad had her lunch stolen by classmate Amanda.  Amanda's father is a local television producer, and after having Elizabeth's dinner, realizes she'd be perfect for a cooking show to fill a new empty time slot.  Elizabeth takes her chemistry background and applies it to food, while preaching women's education and life beyond the kitchen.  She becomes an icon.  You can imagine how the (male) television execs react. 

I will say Six Thirty is the absolute best character, and his internal monologue is fascinating.  Every year he ages I was afraid we'd be reading about his passing, but he lives through the end of the book (a fact I had to share with Ms. Marcella, as I knew she'd have the same fear!).  So do not despair animal lovers.

I'll be adding this to our collection momentarily (I'm sitting in the library listening to the BOE meeting going on downstairs via YouTube while directing lost parents at Parent Visiting Night), and it will be on the Book Club hold shelf until after our meeting.

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.