Bonnie Garmus – Lessons in Chemistry

Bonnie Garmus – Lessons in Chemistry

Elizabeth Zott is a famous cooking show host in the 1960s. People love the way she beings cooking to their homes which is quite different from what everybody else does. She explains the chemistry behind the food and the processes she operates in the kitchen because, well, cooking is simply chemistry. But this is not what the mother of 10-year-old Madeline had in mind. She wanted to work in a lab and do serious research. However, she was ahead of her time, women were supposed to marry and take care of the home and children but not taken seriously as scientists. Only Calvin Evans, one of her colleagues who is as passionate about chemistry as Elisabeth, recognises her potential and treats her as an equal. They quickly become much more than colleagues. As lovers, they are soulmates and have found the other part they have always missed. Fate, however, had other plans for them.

Bonnie Garmus‘ novel is a rollercoaster of emotions which first and foremost lives from the outstanding protagonist who is unique and exceptional in all respects, a feminist long before the word existed in the common knowledge, stubborn and intelligent at the same time. Life is so unfair to her that I wanted to shout at times, but, on the other hand, “Lessons in Chemistry” also highlights what a change a single person can make.

Elizabeth has chosen a highly misogynist environment, science labs in the 1950s were no places for women, except for the secretaries. Already the idea that she could have an equal – not to speak of a superior – mind as her male colleague seems unimaginable. But not only does she encounter men who look down on her, harassment and even assaults are normal parts of a woman’s professional life. When she encounters Calvin, things seem to have the potential to change, but he, too, despite being a prodigies and highly regarded, cannot influence his colleagues’ attitudes that much.

A female fighter who only briefly after the birth of her daughter goes down, but stands up again. She uses her cooking show to inspire others, to send out her messages ignorant of conventions and the risk of losing her job. She knows that things must change and that women need the same chances as their male colleagues. The fight she has chosen seems unwinnable und futile, but for her, it is worth every setback.

A wonderful novel, funny and tragic, oscillating between the emotional extremes, with amazing female characters who even today can inspire and motivate readers since the battle of equality still has not been won.

Eliza Robertson – Demi-Gods

Eliza Robertson – Demi-Gods

Summertime in the early 1950s. Willa and her older sister Joan would like to have a relaxing time at their summer home together with their mom. But the mother has a new lover, Eugene, and to the girls‘ surprise, Eugene has invited his two sons to spend the summer with them. Kenneth and Patrick are slightly older than the girls immediately attract their attention. No, they definitely are not like brothers and sisters, Joan and Kenneth quickly fall for each other. For Willa and Patrick things are not that easy. Over the next years, they regularly meet and between Willa and Patrick a strange connection is formed. On the one hand, the boy can arouse feelings in her, but on the other, what he is doing to her repels her and she senses that his behaviour is far from being normal and acceptable. But what is there she can to about it? It will take years until she can free herself.

“Demi-God” – according to the Merriam-Webster definition, it is a mythological being with more power than a mortal but less than a god or a person so outstanding as to seem to approach the divine. For all female members of the family, the male counterparts are somehow demi-gods, at least in so far as they cannot refrain from their attraction. The mother is charmed by Eugene, Joan falls for Kenneth and also Willa has a special liking for Patrick. It is not quite clear what makes those three that outstanding, but their appeal is obvious. They can exert power over the women in different ways, but it is only Patrick how openly abuses this.

Before coming to this, what I liked especially about the novel was the atmosphere. You can sense immediately that Eliza Robertson is great at creating certain moods and you actually can feel this carefree time of being young during summer holidays when the days seem endless, when the sun is shining and when there are no worries and fears. I also appreciated her characters, first of all the mother who is neither completely stereotypical but nevertheless clearly represents a certain kind of woman of her time. In the focus of the novel are the girls and their relationship. It is not always easy to be sisters, at times they can confide in each other, at others they can’t. Yet, there is something like unconditional love between them, if one needs the other, she can surely count on her.

In this nice and loving ambiance now enters the evil that can be found in human beings. To name it openly, the novel is about sexual abuse, about menacing and exerting power over a weaker person. Willa is first too young, then unsure of how to react and how to qualify what happens to her. It is not the all bad and awful situation – this is what makes the novel especially impressive. It only happens at single instances, partly, she isn’t even sure if she did actually refuse it or even contributed to it happening. This makes it even more awful, because the girl is left alone with her feelings and worries. She plays normal and hides what has happened. It does not take much to imagine that there might be millions of girls out there suffering from the same abuse and feeling helpless and powerless.

Thus, the novel takes up a very serious topic and hopefully some readers might recognize that what Willa is going through is far from acceptable and can find a way of seeking help if they are in need.

Philip Roth – Indignation

Philip Roth – Indignation

Marcus Messner begins his sophomore year at Winesburg College. He is happy to finally leave his family, his father, a butcher, and his mother, always afraid. The college is quite conservative and from the start Marcus has problems adapting. For him, as a Jew, life is especially difficult. First, rather unsatisfying experiences with girls, the strict rules of the college and the Korean War looming – Marcus feels his life has already ended before it really began.

Philip Roth’s way of writing always catapults you into the life and head of his characters. Now, a small college in a rural area in 1951. It is not too easy this time to get a feeling of the setting, especially since “Indignation” is a rather short novel. The family structures, Marcus feeling of dependence and obligation towards his parents was understandable but it all remained a bit too distant from me as a reader. Also the development of the relationships – this is surely due to the fact that our lives are completely different today. A more in depth description and analysis might have revealed more about Marcus’ struggles here. His desperation and longing for a life to be lived nevertheless becomes clear and shows, eventually, that for some people this world has nothing to offer.