Lessons in Chemistry (novel)

Last updated

Lessons in Chemistry
Lessons in Chemistry cover.jpg
Author Bonnie Garmus
Audio read by Miranda Raison [1]
Genre Tragicomedy [2]
Set in1960s Southern California
Publisher Doubleday
Publication date
April 5, 2022 [3]
Pages560
ISBN 9780385547345

Lessons in Chemistry is a novel by Bonnie Garmus. Published by Doubleday in April 2022, it is Garmus's debut novel. It tells the story of Elizabeth Zott, who becomes a beloved cooking show host in 1960s Southern California after being fired as a chemist four years earlier. [4] It was adapted into an Apple TV+ miniseries that debuted on October 13, 2023. [5]

Contents

Inception

Garmus told People magazine that she wrote Lessons in Chemistry after her previous novel was rejected by 98 publishers because it was "too long". [6] The book was originally called "Introduction to Chemistry", but was later renamed by the author's agent, Felicity Blunt. [7] It was published a few days before the author turned 65 in 2022. [8]

The book was inspired by Garmus's experience as a creative director in an advertising agency, in particular after a frustrating meeting where a male co-worker took credit for one of her ideas. [8] While writing Lessons in Chemistry, Garmus was a full-time copywriter but taught herself some school-level chemistry, attempting experiments from The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments . [5] She said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times: "The fire department had to come twice for the amount of flames in my flat". [8] She also adapted her own interest in rowing as a hobby of the protagonist, Zott. [5] Aside from rowing, Garmus said that she does not share other commonalities with Zott, but has instead written her "role model". [6]

Synopsis

After being sexually assaulted and refusing to apologize for stabbing her rapist, Elizabeth Zott is expelled from her doctoral program. She then gets a job at Hastings Research Institute, working as a Lab Technician in a chemistry laboratory. She meets fellow Hastings researcher Calvin Evans while taking surplus beakers from his lab. Evans assumes that she is a secretary and ignores her. They later encounter each other at a theater, and Calvin, experiencing an allergic reaction to another woman's perfume, vomits on Zott. They start dating and living together shortly after.

Evans proposes in the staff dining room, but Zott rejects him, citing concerns that as her husband Evans would be given credit for all of her work. A month later, Zott adopts an abandoned explosive detection dog and names him Six-Thirty as that is the time he initially follows her home. [9] Evans convinces Zott to take up rowing, and Zott starts teaching her dog English.

Due to a local law, Zott buys a leash for Six-Thirty. The leash indirectly causes Evans's skull to be fractured in a fatal accident. Zott later finds herself pregnant with his child, which leads to her being fired from Hastings. She decides to continue her research by converting her kitchen into a lab, obtaining income by providing research advice to former colleagues in return for compensation. During this, Six-Thirty starts communicating and teaching her unborn child words. Zott seeks support for her pregnancy with Dr. Mason, who used to row with her. Months later, she gives birth to Madeline. Afterwards, Harriet Sloane, her neighbor, comes to offer support.

Three years later, Zott decides to enroll Madeline in kindergarten early, modifying her birth certificate to do so. Because of financial difficulties, Zott attempts to return to Hastings. The head of the chemistry department, Dr. Donatti, approves her hiring but refuses to give her anything more than menial labor as a lab technician. During an argument with her coworker, Miss Frask, Zott discovers that Frask had been sexually assaulted by a thesis advisor, an experience they share which stopped them both from obtaining their PhDs. Frask is subsequently fired for gaining weight. Before leaving, Frask gives Zott a set of research files that had once belonged to Evans.

Two months after returning to Hastings, Donatti plagiarizes Zott's work. She confronts him and resigns. At home, Zott discovers that a classmate is eating Madeline's lunch. She goes to talk to the other girl's father, Walter Pine. Pine, a local television producer, offers her a job as a cooking show host due to her unique personality. During the debut, Zott ignores the cue cards Pine had written for her, which is met with disapproval.

Having been assigned a school project to make a family tree, Madeline searches for Evans's orphanage. She meets Reverend Wakely during the project who recalls that he was pen pals with Evans during college and promises to call the orphanage for her and to look for its mysterious donor. At work, Zott is called in to the executive producer, Phil Lebensmal's office. Lebensmal fires her citing her rebellious attitude, then attempts to sexually assault her. She draws a kitchen knife and Lebensmal has a heart attack. Zott calls an ambulance and, while waiting, discovers syndication and sponsorship offers not revealed to Pine. Lebensmal does not return to work, making Pine the executive producer.

After turning down multiple magazine interview offers, Zott accepts Franklin Roth's interview for Life . Roth writes a positive article, which is rejected multiple times. His editor publishes a modified one with a negative tone and excessive personal details. Prior to publication, Roth leaves an envelope with the unpublished original at Zott's doorstep. Madeline takes it and gives it to Frask, who is working as Wakely's secretary, and Frask reads it. Wakely comes to Zott's residence to speak to Madeline after the article's publication and gives Zott Roth's original article. Frask and others write to the editors of the magazine in protest and Harriet submits the original article to several other magazines, leading to its publication weeks later in Vogue .

Zott, saddened by the article, resigns as the host of the show, stating that she will be pursuing a career in research. Frask's letter to Life is noticed by an early investor in Zott's research, who decides to acquire Hastings and replace Donatti with Zott. The investor reveals that she is Evans's mother and found them due to Madeline's having sent a letter to her foundation thanking her for funding the orphanage. They reminisce about the past and her investment allows Zott to continue her abiogenesis research.

Critical reception

According to Book Marks, the book received a "positive" consensus, based on six critic reviews: three "rave", two "positive", and one "mixed". [10] [11]

Lessons in Chemistry was named the Barnes & Noble book of the year in 2022. [7] In 2023, it was the most borrowed book from several public libraries. [12] It was also one of the most borrowed titles for 2024. [13]

It won the German Independent Booksellers Favorite book of the Year (Das Lieblingsbuch der Unabhängigen Buchhandlungen 2022), [14] the Hay Festival Book of the Year 2022, [15] Dymocks Book of the Year 2022 (Australia), [16] Goodreads Choice Awards – Best Debut 2022, [17] and many other honors.

Stephanie Merritt of The Guardian praised the author's ability in creating a "richly comic novel around a character who is entirely deadpan" and called the book "a polished, funny, thought-provoking story, wearing its research lightly but confidently, and with sentences so stylishly turned it’s hard to believe it’s a debut" but holding a few flaws common in debut novels, including an unfocused narrative perspective. [4] Karen Heller writing for The Washington Post called the book an "indelible assemblage of stubborn, idiosyncratic characters" and that there was an "infectious absurdity" to the book and its protagonist. [18] In an article for The New York Times , Elisabeth Egan called the book "irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel" and added that "feminism is the catalyst" of the book. [19] Michael Byers from Cascadia Daily News wrote that the "heroine is brave, original and completely unafraid" and that the reasons for the book's success are clear. [20] Francesca Peacock in Literary Review called the book "witty, fast-paced, and unabashedly amusing." Kirkus Reviews said that "a more adorable plea for rationalism and gender equality would be hard to find." [3]

Pippa Bailey writing for the New Statesman criticizes the book, writing that the book was written "craftlessly" with the plot being "predictable". Bailey opined that the final plot twist was rushed and the character writing seemed monotone, concluding with "Lessons in Chemistry is ultimately a work of fantasy. Elizabeth Zott, our great realist, would hate it." [21]

Screen adaptation

The rights for the screen adaptation were sold by auction. AppleTV+ held the screen adaptation rights to the novel. [22] The book was eventually adapted by Lee Eisenberg for the streaming service into a miniseries that debuted on October 13, 2023. [5] Garmus said in an interview that she gave minimal input to the script writing and production of the TV adaptation. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Erdrich</span> Native American author in Minnesota (born 1954)

Karen Louise Erdrich is a Native American author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American characters and settings. She is an enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota, a federally recognized Ojibwe people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnie Bassler</span> American molecular biologist

Bonnie Lynn Bassler is an American molecular biologist; the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology and chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University; and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. She has researched cell-to-cell chemical communication in bacteria and discovered key insights into the mechanism by which bacteria communicate, known as quorum sensing. She has contributed to the idea that disruption of chemical signaling can be used as an antimicrobial therapy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnie Wright</span> English actress and filmmaker (born 1991)

Bonnie Francesca Wright is an English actress, filmmaker, and environmental activist. She is best known for her role as Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter film series.

Madeline Hunter is an American author of romance novels. She lives in Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Throsby</span> Australian musician and writer

Holly Sarah Throsby is an Australian musician and novelist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn Bertozzi</span> American chemist (born 1966)

Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi is an American chemist and Nobel laureate, known for her wide-ranging work spanning both chemistry and biology. She coined the term "bioorthogonal chemistry" for chemical reactions compatible with living systems. Her recent efforts include synthesis of chemical tools to study cell surface sugars called glycans and how they affect diseases such as cancer, inflammation, and viral infections like COVID-19. At Stanford University, she holds the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professorship in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Bertozzi is also an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and is the former director of the Molecular Foundry, a nanoscience research center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tahmima Anam</span> British writer, novelist and columnist.

Tahmima Anam is a Bangladeshi-born British writer, novelist and columnist. Her first novel, A Golden Age (2007), was the Best First Book winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prizes. Her follow-up novel, The Good Muslim, was nominated for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize. She is the granddaughter of Abul Mansur Ahmed and daughter of Mahfuz Anam.

Paul Torday was a British writer and the author of the comic novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The book was the winner of the 2007 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic writing and was serialised on BBC Radio 4. It won the Waverton Good Read Award in 2008. It was made into feature film in 2011, starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariane Labed</span> Greek-French actress and film director (born 1984)

Ariane Labed is a French actress and film director. She is known for her feature film debut in Attenberg, for which she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and appearing in Helen Edmundson's film Mary Magdalene in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Watkins</span> Australian musician and actress (born 1989)

Emma Olivia Watkins is an Australian children's entertainer, dancer and television presenter. She is best known as the first female member of the children's group the Wiggles, which she was a member of from 2013 to 2021. Due to her popularity in the group, she starred in her own spinoff series as a solo Wiggles performer, titled Emma!. After departing the group, she debuted her own children's entertainment character, Emma Memma, in 2022. She released her first solo children's music album in September 2022, which received an ARIA Award for Best Children's Album in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madeline Miller</span> American writer (born 1978)

Madeline Miller is an American novelist, author of The Song of Achilles (2011) and Circe (2018). Miller spent ten years writing The Song of Achilles while she worked as a teacher of Latin and Greek. The novel tells the story of the love between the mythological figures Achilles and Patroclus; it won the Orange Prize for Fiction, making Miller the fourth debut novelist to win the prize. She is a 2019 recipient of the Alex Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Doudna</span> American chemist and Nobel laureate (born 1964)

Jennifer Anne Doudna is an American biochemist who has pioneered work in CRISPR gene editing, and made other fundamental contributions in biochemistry and genetics. She received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with Emmanuelle Charpentier, "for the development of a method for genome editing." She is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor's Chair Professor in the department of chemistry and the department of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She has been an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mackenzie Davis</span> Canadian actress (born 1987)

Mackenzie Rio Davis is a Canadian actress. She made her feature film debut in the drama film Smashed (2012). In 2013, she appeared in the film The F Word, for which she received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. From 2014 to 2017, she starred as computer programmer Cameron Howe in the AMC period drama series Halt and Catch Fire.

Toni Jordan is a Melbourne-based novelist best known for her debut novel Addition, an international bestseller long listed for the Miles Franklin Award. In 2017 her fourth book, Our Tiny Useless Hearts, was shortlisted for the Voss Literary Prize. Her novel Nine Days was named the Indie Book of the Year by the Australian Booksellers in 2013. Her most recent novel Prettier if she Smiled More was called 'sharp-eyed, engaging, endearing and very funny'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ling Ma</span> Chinese American novelist and academic

Ling Ma is a Chinese American novelist and professor at the University of Chicago. Her first book, Severance (2018), won a 2018 Kirkus Prize and was listed as a New York Times Notable Book of 2018 and shortlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her second book, Bliss Montage (2022), won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and The Story Prize. She is a 2024 MacArthur Fellow.

Ali Hazelwood is the pen name of an Italian-born romance novelist and neuroscience professor living and working in the United States. Many of her works center on women in STEM fields and academia. Her debut novel, The Love Hypothesis, was a New York Times best seller.

<i>Lessons in Chemistry</i> (miniseries) 2023 television miniseries based on the novel by Bonnie Garmus

Lessons in Chemistry is an American historical drama miniseries created by Lee Eisenberg, based on the novel of the same name by Bonnie Garmus. It stars Brie Larson as chemist Elizabeth Zott who begins hosting her own feminist cooking show in 1960s America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnie Garmus</span> American author and former copywriter (born 1957)

Bonnie Jean Garmus is an American author and former copywriter.

This is a list of bestselling novels in the United States in the 2020s, as determined by Publishers Weekly. The list features the most popular novels of each year from 2020 through to 2029.

Lessons in Chemistry may refer to:

References

  1. ↑ Sturges, Fiona (October 6, 2023). "Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus audiobook review – a smart and funny feminist fable". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  2. ↑ Miller, Laura (June 23, 2023). "Why Lessons in Chemistry Is the Biggest Debut Novel of the Past Year". Slate. ISSN   1091-2339. Archived from the original on July 28, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Lessons in Chemistry". Kirkus Reviews. January 11, 2022. Archived from the original on July 29, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Merritt, Stephanie (April 19, 2022). "Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus review – the right comic formula". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Tracy (June 11, 2023). "'Lessons in Chemistry' author Bonnie Garmus on channeling 'constructive anger'". CBS News. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Juneau, Jen. "Bonnie Garmus Says Her First Novel Was Rejected 98 Times Before 'Lessons in Chemistry' Success (Exclusive)". People . Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Stein, Sadie (November 16, 2022). "Beneath Its Pink Cover, 'Lessons in Chemistry' Offers a Story About Power". The New York Times . Archived from the original on July 29, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 Villarreal, Yvonne (August 31, 2023). "Bonnie Garmus wrote 'Lessons in Chemistry.' She learned the formula for TV would bring changes". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  9. ↑ Goffe, Nadira (October 20, 2023). "We Have to Talk About the Dog in the TV Adaptation of Lessons in Chemistry". Slate. ISSN   1091-2339 . Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Lessons in Chemistry". Book Marks. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Lessons in Chemistry". Bibliosurf (in French). October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  12. ↑ Ulaby, Neda (December 29, 2023). "Public libraries reveal their most borrowed books of 2023". NPR .
  13. ↑ Ulaby, Neda. "These were the most-borrowed books from public libraries in 2024". NPR. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Das Lieblingsbuch der Unabhängigen 2022 steht fest". www.boersenblatt.net (in German). Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Hay Festival reveals Book of the Year 2022". Hay Festival. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  16. ↑ Dymocks (November 22, 2022). "Book of the Year 2022 Winners". Dymocks. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Debut Novel!". Goodreads. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  18. ↑ Heller, Karen (April 7, 2022). "Review : At age 64, debut novelist Bonnie Garmus makes the case for experience". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  19. ↑ Egan, Elisabeth (April 4, 2022). "She Moved From the Chem Lab to the Kitchen, but Not by Choice". New York Times. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  20. ↑ Byers, Michael. "Review: 'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus". Cascadia Daily News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  21. ↑ Bailey, Pippa (September 30, 2023). "The absurdity of Lessons in Chemistry". New Statesman . Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  22. ↑ Jones, C. T. (November 25, 2023). "'Lessons in Chemistry' Creator Can't Stop Gushing Over Brie Larson". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  23. ↑ Rosseinsky, Katie (October 15, 2023). "How a bad day at work helped Bonnie Garmus write a bestseller". The Independent . Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.