Calvin happened to be at the window when he saw Elizabeth strolling toward the house, a dog following a respectful five paces behind, and as he watched her walk, a strange shudder swept through his body. “Elizabeth Zott, you’re going to change the world,” he heard himself say. And the moment he said it, he knew it was true. She was going to do something so revolutionary, so necessary, that her name—despite a never-ending legion of naysayers—would be immortalized. And as if to prove that point, today she had her first follower.
This one kind of reads like a Fractured Fairy Tale. It really does. Through its whole tone and narrative voice as well as in the elements of the plot, the hint of magical realism, and the way all of the mysteries and seeming coincidences come together at the end in an extraordinary way. And like a fairy tale, it had some very dark and dangerous moments. Also enraging and frustrating. Partly due to the marketing, it wasn’t really what I was expecting, and was pretty shocked at one event. Despite the description being upfront about Elizabeth, the main character’s circumstances throughout the book, I made some assumptions and I was really taken by surprise. Honestly, had I known about some of the occurrences in this book, I’m not sure I would have read it or I probably would have put off reading this book for even longer than I did. I don’t pursue books that are likely to enrage and disgust me. But had I not read it, I would have been the loser. Of course, I know that, to quote one of my favorite authors, Milly Johnson, “The Greater Your Storm the Brighter Your Rainbow.” (forgive me) In fiction anyway. And Elizabeth does triumph in the end. She and her unusual family have a happy ending, though a bit tinged with sadness and the knowledge that many challenges still remain.
Very briefly, Lessons in Chemistry is about Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist, who has to function in and fight against the rampant and sometimes virulent sexism and backward attitudes of her time, the 1950’s through 1961. During her journey, she finds her soulmate, loses him, and has a little girl who is just as unusual as she is. We get to know the many people who help and hinder her along the way. Unfairly fired by the laboratory she works at, She astonishingly becomes the host of a daytime cooking show, where once again she has to fight injustice and ignorance. Incredibly, she is embraced by the 98% female American audience precisely because she doesn’t talk down to them. She does not belittle them but empowers them, kind of without them noticing it. But despite her power and popularity, her story is never an easy one. She is uncompromising.
I enjoyed this book very much and loved the main characters: Indomitable Elizabeth, her young genius daughter Mad, and her dog, Six-Thirty, who knows 981 words and through whose eyes we see some of the people and happenings that make up the story. It was often very funny and while, yes, it has some infuriating parts, also had many satisfying and heartening moments as well. The supporting characters added much to my enjoyment: Calvin, her world-famous and lauded husband and fellow chemist, Dr. Mason, her obstetrician and fellow rower, Mad’s, later Elizabeth’s friend, Reverend Wakely who struggles with his profession and his faith, Harriet, her neighbor and Mad’s babysitter, hapless Walter, who produces Elizabeth’s cooking show, and Miss Frask who has the most extreme character arc of all. And let’s not forget the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Franklin Roth, who tries to tell Elizabeth’s true story.
Men of the 1950s in general take quite a beating in this book, but when I look back on it, there were as many positive male characters as negative ones. The negative ones are very evil indeed, but mostly the bad and stupid males are in the background. The positive ones have substantial roles. God and religion take quite a beating as well. I wish the author had done the hard thing and presented faith and religion in a more balanced way. Criticizing the Catholic Church of the 50s is like shooting fish in a barrel. She even manages to work in the Magdelene Sisters. Even the Presbyterian minister who is a very very good man does not believe in God. Oh well. Elizabeth’s life’s work is Abiogenesis, the hypothesis that life created itself from inorganic material, thus “more proof that there actually is no God.” The book ends with Elizabeth, fully funded with her own Lab, declaring “Abiogenesis, Let’s get started.” If you believe in God, it is some comfort that Elizabeth failed. Over 50 years later, in 2023, Abiogenesis remains unproven.
