Page Turners – August 2023 review

In August the Page Turners read and discussed Bonnie Garmus’s 2022 best-selling debut novel ‘Lessons in Chemistry‘.

The heroine of the book is Elizabeth Zott who would be a research chemist if it weren’t for the overt sexism of the 1960s American scientific community. Instead, she takes a job as the presenter of an afternoon television cookery show. Soon her revolutionary approach to cooking and to life grab the nation’s attention and a legion of overlooked housewives are taking her lead and challenging the status quo.

A television series of the book is due to launch on Apple TV+ in the autumn.

Most of us found the book a funny and enjoyable read. Some of us found the punchy style of writing hooked us from the first page while others took a while to settle into it. The characters, including a very intelligent dog, all tend to be larger than life caricatures of their type and many range from abrasive to downright infuriating but this also provides the humour in the book.

Perhaps we had forgotten just how difficult a woman’s life could be in the early 1960s? This book reminds us in no uncertain terms and shows us how far we have come. We enjoyed a discussion about women’s’ rights and equality in the modern world where some of our top scientists are women, getting credit for their own work.

Several of our members would like you to know that once we have read our books we would be happy to swap them with another book group or an individual so if you are ever tempted by our reviews, please get in touch and exchange our page turner for one of your own.

Deborah Wallis, Convenor