Lessons in Chemistry
Oh gorgeous humans - the girls are back and they are COVID free! (Note: there is still a slight sinus infection within the group but that's not what we're here to talk about is it?!)
What we are we're here to talk at length about Bonnie Garmus's luminous "Lessons in Chemistry" and man alive we have much to say
Points of note include:
- Respect = Love. You can't have one without the other
- The idea of being with someone and never running out of something to talk about is goals
- A writing style and tone that treats inequality as the farce it is - more effective than a thousand angry monologues
- Judgement and how it becomes a habit.
- Internalised migogyny turning women against each other
- Elizabeth having no one to lean on
- People are so much more than their trauma, and Elizabeth is kind of the president of that place
- Closet allies and non-human hero allies (we can't handle how much we love Six-Thirty)
- The hate you catch when you find joy and live joyously on your own terms
Tangents you ask? Oh they were plentiful. Including, but not limited to:
- LC's holiday to Gran Canaria has weirdly reminded the girls that they'll be out of their teens soon. No we don't know how that happened either
- Talking about BTS's upcoming break to work on solo projects led to some weird ass conspiracy theories we were NOT prepared for...
- Chloe low-key bullying Sarah because she does Multimedia and not Science (Chloe has since apologised)
- Chloe coins the phrases "You can't beat a bit of Regency Ridin" and "Queen to Queen Combat". You're all welcome
Lessons in Chemistry is available at all reputable booksellers - YOU NEED IT IN YOUR LIFE
Catch the full episode
More on Lessons in Chemistry:
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman.
In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life doesn’t always follow a straight line. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. That’s because Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.
More on Bonnie Garmus:
Bonnie Garmus is a copywriter and creative director who has worked widely in the fields of technology, medicine, and education. She’s an open-water swimmer, a rower, and mother to two pretty amazing daughters. Born in California and most recently from Seattle, she currently lives in London with her husband and her dog, 99.
To find out more about Bonnie Garmus, visit