Elizabeth Zott does not fit in.
Headstrong, intelligent, oblivious of her own beauty and determined to make it as a scientist, she refuses to conform to the patriarchal ideals of a woman in 1960s America. So how on earth does she end up hosting an afternoon TV cooking show Supper at Six, teaching housewives to cook dinner for their families?
Elizabeth’s entry into the world of TV celebrity is where we start in Lessons in Chemistry, but a swift jump back in time quickly reveals there is so much more to her story. We follow her through love, loss, becoming a single mother and her never ending resolve to become the trailblazing chemist she knows she can be. Because cooking isn’t just housework, it’s science.
Though the cover of the novel implies a jolly, heart-warming romp through 1950 and 60s nostalgia, the reality is that Garmus never shies away from the true difficulties and horrors of trying to make it as an independent woman at that time. From the stigma of unmarried pregnancies to sexual assault in the workplace, the novel makes it clear just how much the odds are stacked against Elizabeth and those like her.
Yet, somehow, this novel still manages to tell a joyous and inspiring story, thanks largely to its cast of wonderful characters. Elizabeth, her precocious daughter Mad, her downtrodden yet kind neighbour Harriet, her ever-stressed TV boss Walter Pine, and even her loyal, strangely named dog, Six Thirty are the kind of characters you cannot help falling in love with. Together, this motley crew, inspired by Elizabeth, push back against the constraints of their era, and lead the way to a new way of living – simply by showing them how to cook dinner.
I absolutely adored this book. The feminist message, the brilliant characters, the ups and downs but, most of all, Elizabeth: a quirky, wonderful, truly inspiring woman. Her message that women’s work – whatever that may be – matters, is a message that rings loudly throughout the novel and well beyond its final page.
If you are to pick up just one book this year, let it be this one. I cannot recommend it enough.
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