
Lessons in Chemistry
“Welcome to the 1960s, when a woman’s arsenal of tools was often limited to the kitchen—and where Elizabeth Zott is hellbent on overturning the status quo one meal at a time.”
New York Times
An April 2022 LibraryReads Pick
A Good Morning America Book Club Pick
An Amazon Best Book of the Month
A #1 New York Times Bestseller
An AudioFile Editors’ Pick of the Month
A New York Times Bestseller in Audio
A #1 Amazon bestseller
A Libro.fm Audio bestseller
The Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Year Pick
A Goodreads Pick of 2022's Best Books
A #1 Sunday Times (London) bestseller
A Washington Post Best Book of 2022
A New York Times Notable Book of 2022
An Oprah.com Best Books of the Year Pick
An Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Newsweek Best Book of 2022
An NPR Best Book of 2022
This novel is “irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel” (The New York Times Book Review) and “witty, sometimes hilarious...the Catch-22 of early feminism” (Stephen King, via Twitter).
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek
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 takes 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 is unpredictable. 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. Because as it turns out, 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.
Praise
