Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus

"Courage is the root of change - and change is what we're chemically designed to do. So when you wake up, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others opinion of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status and religion. Do not allow your talent to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. Ask yourself what you will change.  And then get started." - Underlying message from the book 'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus. What a book mark to go with it.

Set in the 1960’s, it’s the story of Elizabeth Zott, a lone woman scientist at Hastings Research Institute who is  put down in more ways than one, ridiculed and harassed, until she meets Calvin Evans, the brilliant scientist who has been nominated for nothing less than the Nobel prize. Life takes its quirky and cruel twists and turns and we find Elizabeth as a single mother, hosting a cookery show in her own inimitable way, always ending with "Children, set the table; your mother needs a moment to herself". But what she does there goes beyond mere Chemistry or cooking. She opens the minds of many a woman watching the show, makes them aware of who they are and the power of their dreams.

With back stories of  Elizabeth and Calvin, another mother; Harriet and Walter, but it’s the narrative and the humour that keeps you riveted. The three of them ----Six Thirt and Madeline. It’s the story of an amazing woman who will stop at nothing for those whom she loves, what she believes in, and a man who loves her back with everything he has, with no conditions except that she be herself. Do such love still exist? I wondered. 

I finished reading it in one go and loved it. Something of a kind after the Rosy project and much needed after 'The Sense of an Ending' which I reread after many years - and still a little confused though thought provoking with great words of wisdom. I love books with clear ending.