海角大神

鈥淐ooking is serious science. In fact, it鈥檚 chemistry.鈥澛燭hese words may not seem revolutionary today, but 60 years ago the suggestion that an element of women鈥檚 work could be approached with the rigor of a laboratory experiment was bold indeed.

The earnest speaker of this truth is 30-something scientist Elizabeth Zott, the protagonist of Bonnie Garmus鈥� debut novel 鈥淟essons in Chemistry.鈥� Elizabeth鈥檚 surprise platform? The set of 1961鈥檚 hit TV cooking show 鈥淪upper at Six,鈥� of which she is the reluctant host. How Elizabeth lands in front of the camera, rather than under a fume hood, receives frank, satisfying treatment in this briskly paced, often funny, occasionally troubling, brew of a book.聽

Garmus sets her story in Southern California in the 1950s and early 鈥�60s 鈥� a time of shirtwaist dresses and cars without seatbelts, 鈥渂ack when the big wars were over and the secret wars had just begun.鈥� The era, Garmus makes abundantly clear, was no picnic. For all but the most powerful, it smacked of suffocating conformity, infuriating inequality, and dismal expectations. A young woman with a singular passion for science was, as Elizabeth might say, a fish out of H2O.聽

The path from a chemist-who-cooks to a cook-expounding-chemistry begins in 1952 at Hastings Research Institute where Elizabeth works in a crowded lab. The situation is far from ideal. She scrounges for equipment, gets mistaken for a secretary, and suffers a steady stream of rancor from her jealous, sexist boss.聽

Elizabeth once had higher professional hopes. Prior to Hastings she鈥檇 been days shy of earning her Ph.D. in chemistry, when an academic adviser sexually assaulted her, ending those dreams. Though brief, this is a difficult, graphic scene 鈥� one of several in the book. Garmus doesn鈥檛 shy from depicting the obstacles women faced (and still face today) in academic and workplace settings. Step carefully.

At Hastings, Elizabeth encounters the institute鈥檚 decorated darling, Calvin Evans. A fastidious, awkward genius, the young man sputters at Elizabeth鈥檚 no-nonsense, take-charge manner; their wary circling, unfiltered sparring, and eventual, wholehearted affection serve as one of the novel鈥檚 central 鈥渓essons in chemistry.鈥�

Other characters in the book offer readers opportunities to check biases and feel empathy, and Garmus鈥� tale is awash with them. But Elizabeth 鈥� determined, practical, uncompromising 鈥� shines brightest. Her uniqueness extends beyond her intellectual drive; take, for example, her penchant for weaving chemistry terms and equipment into everyday life (coffee is brewed with flasks and Bunsen burners, 鈥淧ass the sodium chloride鈥� is uttered at dinner). She brooks no nonsense in her relationships, speaking blunt truths and unvarnished opinions without a care for social niceties. She also raises her precocious daughter, Mad, with fearlessness, decrying gender norms.聽

Most importantly, Elizabeth refuses to accept limitations. This refreshing quality pops up throughout the book, whether she鈥檚 learning how to row or encouraging a studio-audience member to pursue a career. It even applies to her homely hound Six-Thirty, a former bomb-sniffing dog now dedicated to the protection of his beloved owner and the expansion of his English comprehension (seriously). In a book bubbling with quirky, distinct characters, Six-Thirty is a standout delight.聽

Multiple plot points keep the novel鈥檚 pace at a simmer. A mystery about Calvin鈥檚 past sweeps up their daughter, Mad, while the tension between Elizabeth鈥檚 financial need to host 鈥淪upper at Six鈥� and her refusal to conform to the producers鈥� hidebound vision builds to a well-worth-it conclusion.聽

Any gripes about 鈥淟essons in Chemistry鈥� are small. The novel鈥檚 tone 鈥� swinging between breezy, wry, and brutally raw 鈥� can feel muddled. Garmus鈥� commitment to portraying the near countless ways sexism trivialized and muzzled women may exhaust some readers. 鈥淲eathering is called weathering for a reason: it erodes,鈥� she notes. It鈥檚 true, but so, too, is the novel鈥檚 insistence that we must persist to fuel change in the world.聽聽

鈥淒o not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies,鈥� urges Elizabeth to her legions of tuned-in 鈥淪upper at Six鈥� fans. 鈥淒esign your own future.鈥� They are words she offers generously 鈥� and ultimately claims for herself.