You have to read this book.
Imagine a feminist comedy that you can't really take half-seriously because the characters are at times too stereotypically perfect to be believable, or a novel in which a dog is smarter than most of the humans in the story - and is definitely a better communicator than most of them. Then there are a little girl who is reading Faulkner as a five-year-old and her brilliant chemist of a mother who develops an afternoon TV cooking show that ends up convincing women across America that they have every right to hold a job outside the home (these are the late 1950s, so that's kind of a revolutionary thought). And there's the little girl's genius father who just may be the unluckiest man in the country when it comes to walking dogs. And there's a lady from across the street who offers to help care for the little girl mainly just to get away from her jerk of a husband a few hours a day.
Now imagine that this is a story that manages to combine tragedy with comedy so effortlessly that you are often surprised to find yourself laughing at what surely have to be inappropriate moments...really, aren't they? Imagine, too, that you are going to walk away from this novel with a pretty decent understanding of what everyday life felt like for women both at home and in the workplace in the 1950s. And that you are going to conclude that the women who helped changed all of that deserve a whole lot more credit than they get.
"Cooking is chemistry. And chemistry is life. Your ability to change everything - including yourself - starts here."
Now you've pretty accurately imagined what reading Lessons in Chemistry was like for me. So is this a fairytale, a fable, or a serious novel disguised as a comedy and a farce?
You have to read this book.
 |
| Bonnie Garmus (color version) jacket photo |
Funny but with very serious topics and historical situations for women who had to confront these challenges head on. It was so much worse for them than we can imagine today.
ReplyDeleteThat's very true, Harvee. The novel is a pretty good, if exaggerated, bit of social history. When I was a boy it was highly unusual for a woman to work outside the home, and among some people it carried a built-in stigma associated with the husband's paycheck being too small to support his family. Women were limited on job choices, etc., but it never crossed my mind back then what they had to put up with in the workplace regarding sexual harassment and the like.
DeletePerfect timing - this one is sitting at the top of my pile!
ReplyDeleteIt's a good one, Amy. I haven't heard anyone really come even close to trashing it for any reason. It leaves you thinking despite the unusual package it's all wrapped up in.
DeleteEveryone I know who's read this book has loved it. I think I need to move it higher up my TBR list. :D
ReplyDeleteI had given up on getting it in 2023 because the line for it was so long at the library. But looks like our library system must have bought multiple extra copies at some point, because all of a sudden the logjam burst open and in only a matter of days I went from somewhere in the fifties to having it arrive for me to pick up. Looking forward to your reaction to it.
DeleteNicely reviewed. I thought this novel was fun in the summer of 2022. And it has quite a variety of emotions in it. Humor and sadness, fear and life changes, a love of dogs and crew, and a feminist undercurrent throughout. Garmus had a nice touch with it all.
ReplyDeleteIts message is not all that original, I suppose, but the style Garmus uses to deliver it makes Lessons in Chemistry very memorable for me. At first I tried to ignore the book because of all the hype it was getting, and then by the time I finally decided to queue up for a library copy the line was really, really long. It took me months to finally come up to the top of the list.
DeleteI don't know whether this is the author's debut novel or not but surely after the success of this she'll never have to write another one again! LOL!
ReplyDeleteThe publisher was kind of vague (if I remember correctly) about whether this was a debut novel, but I got the impression that it was. Talk about hitting the jackpot...either way! I do hope she had a good agent and got what she deserves for being this creative.
DeleteWell, I was undecided about whether to read this book or not. But you have definitely convinced me. Ideally sometime this year I will get a copy.
ReplyDeleteTracy, it is my type of humor, so I immediately took to it. Her writing reminds me of the kind of characters that someone like John Irving is so wonderful about creating...just far enough over the realistic line to make them special standouts in my mind.
Delete