Lessons from history?

Lessons in Chemistry, the bestselling debut novel by Bonnie Garmus, was published earlier this year. The story of Elizabeth Zott, an American scientist, has been described as life-enhancing and brimming with courage. But it’s a controversial read. Critics claim that, far from being a revealing commentary on 1960s America, it’s a searing diatribe against men, God, and the church. Garmus, a disillusioned church-goer, describes herself and her character Elizabeth Zott as humanist. Interestingly, though, even Zott admits ‘some days the human ...

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