Reader Review: "Lessons in Chemistry"

by Roberta (Los Ranchos): The book takes place in the 1960s. The main character, Elizabeth Zott, is not your average woman. She is strong, independent and a chemist and finds herself subjected to all manner of sexism and abuse by her male colleagues. One of her colleagues though is a brilliant and successful scientist and he and Elizabeth fall in love. Later on she has a child and her life takes a detour.
She becomes the host of a TV cooking show and to the producer's dismay, she describes cooking in chemistry terms. They cringe, but her show turns out to be a huge success.
The book is laugh-out-loud funny. My favorite scene is when a male colleague tries to sexually harass Elizabeth and she pulls a chef's knife out of her purse, waves it at him, and he keels over from a heart attack. Yes!!! I expect many women readers applauded that scene.
The book is full of great characters and a fabulous dog. The only criticism I have of it is that Elizabeth's daughter Mad is not quite believable. Had she been described as a teenager and not a first-grader, I could have believed her vocabulary and wit.
I loved this book!