by Bonnie Garmus
Elizabeth Zott’s lot is not easy. The product of dodgy parenting, Elizabeth Zott possesses a remarkable level of determination and focus as she powers through some pretty nasty setbacks thanks to the patriarchy of the 1950s. At her all-male California lab she is subject to theft, bullying, assault and innuendo that might get you a nice holiday courtesy of Her Majesty nowadays. A dramatic chance meeting with a lab mate, however, brings her a run of luck that means she can get on with her ground-breaking investigations into abiogenesis.
She and the lab mate, the revered scientist Calvin Evans, are of an ilk and soon enjoy domestic harmony with a dog, a child, and rowing until Calvin comes a cropper under a cop car’s wheels. Elizabeth descends back into the world of male-on-female harassment and bullying until her daughter’s packed lunch saves her life when a TV exec offers her a dream job as one of the first TV chefs.
The story picks up dramatic pace from there as Elizabeth brings innovative cooking, chemistry and empowerment to the downtrodden American female. With a delectable supporting cast, I found it natural to cheer for Elizabeth to win through adversity. All the characters are sketched thoroughly, and I found the set of her TV show as effortless to imagine as her daft DIY lab/kitchen.
The writing is staccato and punchy, like that in the ‘Rosie Project’ or ‘Where’d you go Bernadette?’ echoing the effervescent Ms Zott’s own blunt matter-of-fact way of interacting with the world. There are moments of heavy-handed description ‘conflict of an early spring’, ‘she looked at him like a battlefield medic assessing whether or not he was worth saving’. But the author also gives us a little sprinkle of magic, using deus ex machina to bring our heroine a little respite. The first half of the book is heavily narrative, offering back stories for Elizabeth and Calvin. I was hooked into reading the book by the promise of mixing chemistry and a TV chef, and it is the second half that delivers. If anything, I wished there had been more chemistry and more recipes. (I’m sure that spinach casserole was delicious!)
If you are looking for victory through adversity, then this is your book. The tragedy and comedy are harmonious, and you are sure to find a baddie to boo and a hero (or two) to cheer. Thank you to NetGalley UK and Penguin Random House for the eARC. I really enjoyed it.
The flying librarian 