Episode 88: Bonnie Garmus on her brilliant debut novel, “Lessons in Chemistry”

In this achingly tender, funny, clever debut novel set in the 1950s, talented Elizabeth Zott confronts misogyny and worse as she battles to create a place for herself in the male-dominated world of research chemistry. Things get worse when she falls in love with brilliant fellow scientist Calvin. Here Garmus dsicusses how Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” inspired her and the joys of creating such an unconventional, empowered protagonist.

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