Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus *****

Lessons in Chemistry by BonnieGarmus is set in a time (pre-Civil Rights Act of 1964) when the police might ask a rape victim, “Would you like to make a statement of regret [for defending yourself]?” A time when a woman might be fired for becoming pregnant. A time when any woman was assumed to be a secretary and available. Elizabeth Zott is a scientist, a chemist. All this and more happened to her but she was never defeated and (no surprise) victorious in the end. A humorous celebration of intelligent, independent, and strong women.

Elizabeth Zott and Calvin Evans work at the Hastings Research Institute in Commons, California, “Commons is beautiful. Best weather in the world.” He is a world-renowned chemist (Nobel Prize nominee). She is a chemist without a PhD. They are both exploited by the incompetent Donatti, head of Chemistry. They fall in love and don’t get married, but she becomes pregnant and has a daughter (named Mad). Imagine everything that might happen bad to a single, unwed, atheist, female scientist in the 1950s. That is Elizabeth Zott.

Her daughter is an early reader. “[She] had been reading since age three and, now, at age five, was already through most of Dickens.” They have a dog, Six-thirty, who knows over 500 words and is smarter than most of the male characters in the book.

Some interesting quotes:

“You have a lot of nerve,” Donatti said. “You know very well women do not continue to work when pregnant. But you—you’re not only with child, you’re unwed. It’s disgraceful.” “Pregnancy is a normal condition. It is not disgraceful. It is how every human being starts.”

When a strange man touched her pregnant belly…

“Remove your hand,” she said, “or live to regret it.” “Bada bada bada!” he sang, thumping her stomach like a bongo drum. “Bada bada boom,” she rejoined, swinging her handbag directly into his crotch, the impact of which was compounded by a heavy stone mortar she’d picked up earlier that day from Chemical Supply. The man gasped, then doubled over in pain.

Elizabeth’s response to another man preparing to rape her…

She shook her head in wonder. She had no idea why men believed women found male genitalia impressive or scary. She bent over and reached into her bag. “I know who I am!” he shouted thickly, thrusting himself at her. “The question is, who the hell do you think you are?” “I’m Elizabeth Zott,” she said calmly, withdrawing a freshly sharpened fourteen-inch chef’s knife. But she wasn’t sure he’d heard. He’d fainted dead away.

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