At some point when I was at university I realised that I couldn’t cook. My mum is an excellent cook and she advised me to ‘go back to basics’, which obviously made sense, and yet… I didn’t. What I actually did was remind myself that I had completed Year 12 chemistry, and cooking was essentially the same thing. So I approached cooking with precision (my mum is an intuitive cook, which I eventually understood comes with experience), and I managed well from there onward.
Which leads me to Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – it’s hardly worth reviewing this book because I’m fairly sure that everyone bar me has read it. I read a sample chapter back in 2022 – it didn’t appeal at all so I never bothered. Except that it turned up on the Literary Wives rotation… and so, I tackled this story about a woman, Elizabeth, living in the early 1960s – chemist, mother, rower, star of a cooking show (but not a wife – although the book has plenty to say about wives in general).
I’ll keep my ‘review’ short – I didn’t enjoy this book at all. I classed it as ‘fantasy’ as there were so many parts that were far-fetched (and there’s also a magic realism element – a dog named Six-Thirty – the dog was cute but magic realism… urgh, especially not paired with the science-dependent-evidence-based narrative).
I’m not going to delve into the feminist theme – some readers view this book as empowering, and I can understand that perspective – Elizabeth is determined, uncompromising and unconventional for her time. And that was partly the problem for me – I simply wasn’t convinced that Elizabeth was of her time. She seemed like a 21st century woman (her politics, her expectations, her understanding of social norms), plonked into the sixties. There was also an uncomfortable disconnect between her being ‘smart’ but also completely blind to many important social and emotional occurrences – what was Garmus trying to imply? That Elizabeth was neuro-diverse?
A pencil instead of a pen? Because unlike ink, graphite is erasable. People make mistakes… A pencil allows one to clear the mistake and move on. Scientists expect mistakes, and because of it, we embrace failure.
I was particularly irritated by the highly unlikely rowing scenes (firstly crews need to be of a similar height so that the length of each stroke is even. Secondly, Elizabeth ‘learning’ to row in a few weekends and then joining a successful men’s eight is ludicrous).
The main question we ask about the books we read for Literary Wives is: What does this book say about wives or about the experience of being a wife?
Elizabeth’s cooking show, Supper at Six, tackled the expectations for being a ‘good wife’ head-on. Her direct approach with her audience – speaking to them about self-care and nutrition, were the most entertaining scenes in the novel. There is a very clear ‘you deserve to put yourself first’ message. In fact, the highlight comes via a minor character who expressed her ambition to study – on air, Elizabeth encourages her, and this character is revisited toward the end of the novel in a lovely ‘where are they now?’ moment.
Other than that, Garmus presents marriage as a bad deal – Elizabeth never married her true love, Calvin, who was the father of her child (yes, a baby out of wedlock in the conservative early-sixties would not have been easy). Elizabeth’s neighbour is in an abusive marriage, trapped by her vows, her religious beliefs, and her template for ‘loyalty’. And there is a significant male character whose wife left him for another man, leaving him to raise their daughter (the focus is on his struggle with home duties).
See Rebecca’s, Kay’s and Naomi’s reviews, too. And if you want to join in, our next book (June) is The Constant Wife by W. Somerset Maugham.
2.5/5
“What do we have now? A mixture, which is a combination of two or more substances in which each substance retains its individual chemical properties. In the case of chicken pot pie, notice how your carrots, peas, onions, and celery are mixed yet remain separate entities. Think about that. A successful chicken pot pie is like a society that functions at a highly efficient level. Call it Sweden. Here every vegetable has its place…”
Interesting take! I enjoyed this book but took it as “hyper-real” rather than realistic. I hated the anthropomorphised dog and the super precocious child, but loved the sass and witty one liners. I tried to watch the TV adaptation but abandoned it after two episodes; it was just too OTT “fake” that I couldn’t lose myself in the story.
I’m with you. I tried, but in the end never finished it and then wondered at all the hype it received.
It was well-hyped, but I managed to resist it… and now I’m glad I did!
I wasn’t terribly keen on it either.
I’ve followed Literary Wives over a few years with Naomi, so I’d better go and see what she has to say.
I haven’t read the book, and I seriously dislike writers getting the 60s wrong, so I’m unlikely to.
I resisted the hype when it first came out (and didn’t read it despite many friends enjoying it) but I think the general consensus was that it was fun.
I can’t comment on the sixties details (only the rowing details) but as I said, the politics felt very ‘now’.
There was so much hype around this book but I enjoyed some bits but overall it was not what I really liked. It was far too long as well. It seems I am most disappointed by those books that get hyped up the most so try to stay away from them until someone else tells me about it whom I respect. Haha
Some of my trusted reading friends loved the book but like you, I get wary of the hype (the last ‘hyped’ book I was sucked into was Butter and I thought it was TERRIBLE).
I haven’t read this but I had wondered about trying it. I think I’ll give it a miss!
I can’t even say to you read it if you want something light because there are a few very traumatic scenes (which some reviews reveal). I think just give it a miss!
This was suggested at my book club a while ago but we still didn’t get to it. I guess I should start on my own. 😉
I read it in the meantime. I got quite angry at times because it reminded me so much of my life!
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2026/02/garmus-bonnie-lessons-in-chemistry.html
I don’t like magical realism either but the dog bothered me less than the precocious child! As I recall, the dog needed to be superhuman to rescue her at one point, but having the child be so brilliant didn’t advance the plot. Still, it was fun to discuss this book with my book group.
I agree about the child!
I enjoyed this book well enough while I was reading it but didn’t feel it was much deeper than that. I’ve been surprised by how many people seem to really love it.
Had it not been for the Literary Wives, I think I would have abandoned it – just didn’t hold my attention in the way I expected.
Oh dear. You know there was a women’s movement that started in the late 60’s, right? She was only a few years ahead of her time. And things have to bubble up, right? So maybe not ahead of her time at all. What I mean by that is that women maybe took a few years to get angry enough to do something about it a few years later. I didn’t take her as being unlikely, just unusual, and I was alive then (although not an adult–I’m not that old!). However, I am aware of feeling differences between how my brothers and I were treated when I was a child, and I was angry about it.
I did think that she was supposed to have some kind of syndrome, because she just didn’t get a lot of interpersonal things.
Oh yes, I know the women’s movement has deep roots. I guess I wasn’t convinced that Elizabeth would be so ahead of her time on so many fronts (and be able to sustain and harness that in a meaningful way).
While reading the book, I also had lots of thoughts about the role of shame in the story (it often presents as anger or over-functioning) but lost the energy to really unpick that theme!
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts about it.
Terrific review. I disliked this book, and you mention many of the reasons why I felt that way.
We’re few and far between – overwhelming love for this one over on Goodreads!
You had a lot of the same concerns about the book as some of the negative reviews I read. (It’s interesting to read negative reviews of books that mostly have positive ones). The rowing seemed really far-fetched to me, too! However, I took a lot of it with a grain of salt – I guess I didn’t feel as though the writer was trying to be realistic. I felt like she was trying to make a point in an entertaining way. I think she did that well enough. It’s not the type of book I am normally drawn to, so my expectations weren’t too high going in.
I think you’ve been fair here! I remember reading an interview in which Garmus said she wanted to capture what her mother (and her generation in general) went through, but there was clearly an element of wish fulfillment — making Elizabeth a modern empowered woman who manages to break all the rules. The dog was too much for me, and I also questioned the possible use of neurodivergence as a stereotype for behaviour. Still, a light and fun read.
I was a bit thrown by it being promoted as a light read, given one early and traumatic scene (I won’t do spoilers but I’m sure you know what I am referring to) – kind of curious to watch the TV series to see how this bit is handled!
I haven’t read this either but I have heard lots of interesting reviews about it, mostly good but not all obviously. It is frustrating when you feel the modern day creeping into a story set in the past