If, like me just 24 hours ago, you haven't read
Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus, please stop reading this post and go get yourself a copy. I haven't been this excited about a book in some time. Maybe it is just the time of year - though I doubt it - but I've been thinking a lot about the past, and this book fits my mood entirely. Set in the mid 1950s to early 60s in America, the book should describe the glamorous lifestyle of the modern woman, newly liberated from the kitchen, survivor of the Second World War, sisters of Doris Day and Audrey Hepburn, whose independent spirit could make any girls' dream seem a possibility. But instead, it details the numerous, ridiculously prevalent barriers to success and equlity that women and girls had to endure all their lives, and may still do. I think this is what gripped me from the first page: this book is not set in the past. It is the story of women and girls today: the inequality persists, though perhaps not so openly.
One notable motif in the book is the idea that women need to take some time for themselves, if they are to stay in touch with who they really are. I am reminded of Virginia Woolf's notion, that every woman needs a room of her own if she wants to fulfill her potential and Garmus is elaborating upon this idea here, for certain. Indeed, Elizabeth Zott transforms her kitchen onto a labratory, a room of her own, as she experiments with being a single mother and independent scientist. Even her coffee maker is a machine that she has invented, made up of test tubes and chemistry implements. She literally takes a sledgehammer to her kitchen - destroying the ultimate symbol of domesticity - only to find herself working in a new kitchen as a television cooking instructor. It seems escaping the confines of the kitchen will be harder than she thought!
Like Ibsen wrote in his play 'A Doll's House', in 1879, the roles women play can be extensive yet exhausting, but at some point, a woman must be true to herself - or lose her sense of self entirely - and that requires her to be selfish with her time, her talents. In this text, the brilliant and forthright Eizabeth Zott, knows this to be true, then forgets it, and embraces it as a truth once more. She is a scientist and despite her gift, has to deal with relentless attacks on her character and career from numerous men, women and teachers! I spent much of the novel passionately hating the characters who got in Elizabeth's way, gritting my teeth as I endured, as did Elizabeth, their attempts to blight, burden, and abuse her. Garus's brilliance lies in her ability to make us care so much about this character. I suppose I cared so much about Elizabeth because I empathised with her. I recognise misogyny in the workplace, in society: inequality in the law and the legal system. Aren't we done with sexism already? It's almost 150 years since Ibsen wrote his play, but still these themes are relevant.
While Garmus has chosen to set her book in the middle of the last century, these themes still ring true. The reader roots for Elizabeth and the 'family' of characters that surround her. Each one is as endearing as she is, each villain is as toxic as any that splattered onto the page from Dickens's quill, and like Dickens, Garmus takes every opportunity to explain the psychology behind their cruelty, even allowing some to move from the dark side into the light.
But more than anything, I found this book to be inspiring. It felt like a healing balm, the antidote to the craziness of modern living. There must be something ironic in that - how a book about the restrictions of life in 1950s America can be liberating in the early 20s in Ireland. And, at this time of year, when reflecting on the past 12 months, seeing how unfair the world can be and looking ahead to 2023 with some uncertainty, Lessons in Chemistry reconfirmed my faith in humanity and the belief that all will be well. This is not a book that must be read at Christmas time, in fact, I think that it is an especially great book to read at the beginning of a new year. It reminds us how far we have come in the world, and that we should not sit on our laurels: there is much that needs to be changed in the world, but with good people by our side we can accomplish anything.
As a teenager I studied Chemistry in school - an extra subject- where a determined and formidable teacher took us during lunch breaks and free classes. She managed to squash a two year course into one, for the simple reason that about five of us girls asked her - the alternative subject was Ballroom Dancing (I kid you not). When I think of it now, she was an amazing teacher to take that onboard - for no extra pay, no extra credit. Elizabeth Zott reminded me of her, her frankness, her certainty - after all, the equations never lie. This book made me want to dig out my old Chemistry notes and become a scientist, or at least appreciate the importance of cracking open the shell of an egg with a knife when cooking and not whacking it off the side of the counter. If you have read the book, you will understand what I mean...
If you haven't read Lessons in Chemistry yet - well, what are you waiting for?
