review #7 lessons in chemistry
tilly on goodreads gives this book a one star because "the dog has coherent thoughts and can speak english". personally, that's my favourite bit.
dear reader,
lessons in chemistry
4.5 ☆ i love you bonnie garmus i love you elizabeth zott i love you six-thirty!!!!!!
really, i am the way i am because of my father. i am pretty sure my dad's dna encoded into my future that i was always going to love reading. this blog and my book account are preordained. however, i have grown to have a taste in books diametrically opposed to him. he often pushes me to read books he find valuable, which tend to be …self help. sorry dearest father but i shan't be reading ikigai no matter how much you ask me to. for this reason, i generally pay little regard to what my dad is reading. but one night, he asked me if i had yet read lessons in chemistry. i hadn’t at that point! i really had wanted to - it’s my best friend’s favourite book, as well as apparently the rest of the world if its literary accolades are to judge. so when my dad said he was reading it, i was shocked! and not only was he reading it, he was loving it! and he was telling me to read it too!
so contrary to our normal matter, i picked it up. and yeah, i fell in love. sometimes, you read a book and it feels a little like home. that was lessons in chemistry.
now, i'm writing this review in june 2025, and i finished this book early february, so my memory is slightly foggy on the details. still, it is strong enough to recall how much i adored this book!! lessons in chem is a little gem. it follows elizabeth zott, mother, tv personality, but above all - chemist. after being let go from her role as a researcher in ucla, zott is essentially forced into becoming the host of a cooking show called supper at six. she takes the job and completely transform the show that was intended to be kitschy and fluffy, to instead inspire and empower women to chase their aspirations. the novel is a beautiful story of love, loss and success when the odds are not in your favour.
elizabeth zott is such a fun main character to follow. she's #quirky but it's in a way that doesnt make me want to die, and is instead very fun - her eccentricities feel real. elizabeth doesn’t actually want to be cooking and putting on a performance for thousands of viewers, she wants to be in the lab. as such, she reads quite cynical and has a dry sense of humour. she doesn’t take shit from anyone, and to her colleagues, such a personality from a woman is unheard of. honestly, her fierce personality and refusal to conform to the pleas of the men around her to be softer is not only a joy to read but a reminder of how we should always be questioning things. the thing is, zott has truly been through the wringer in her life. she’s had awful things happen to her (no spoilers here, but if this was read by the same people who hate on a little life, they'd say this was trauma porn too) and it's shaped her into a character thats truly quite strong. she's resilient in the face of adversity, and takes her struggles in her stride. love that for her.
i know i’ve gassed her up a ton, but elizabeth is not my favourite character. she’s not the funniest, not the most perceptive, nor really is she even that smartest. you know who is? six-thirty the dog. the idea of dogs having full internal monologues is not unique but bonnie garmus crafted six-thirty in a unique way and made him have a very distinct voice. it didn’t feel gimmicky at all, instead it was unique and added a different perspective to the book that was just as discerning as the human characters. my dog, Alfie, is my best friend in the whoooole world, and since reading this book, i've tried to ascribe him a voice to match his personality. he’s not as smart as six thirty but he has a big heart<3
vibes wise, i think this book was just a treat! in my whole review so far, i’ve used the word joy and fun to describe it, but it’s not that happy the whole time. it’s actually a pretty depressing book that is lightened through dry humour - which works perfectly for me! it tackles issues of misogyny and how that impeded women's ability to participate in the workforce in the 50's. i also really liked this discussion/insight into older women in terrible relationships living lives as wives to the most awful men you've ever met, and how that can really damage people. that is explored through zott’s neighbour, harriet sloane. there’s so much to be unpacked there - older women leaving situations of partner abuse and violence who have been reliant on their partners struggle greatly in “starting over”.
so basically, maybe do read the book you've been putting off for years! they're sometimes quite good :)
yours,
ann <3
six thirty is soooo the best character!!