Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers for the novel version of Lessons in Chemistry and possibly spoilers for Apple TV Plus’ limited series.
If you’ve been on BookTok (a TikTok sub-community dedicated to book lovers) at all between 2022 and 2023, then you’ve heard about Lessons in Chemistry.
The debut novel written by Bonnie Garmus became an overnight sensation and an instant New York Times Bestselling upon publication in April 2022. It spent 56 weeks on the NYT Bestselling list, was named one of NYT’s notable books of the year, and was chosen as Good Morning America’s book club pick.
It was also read and enjoyed by over three-quarters of a million readers on Goodreads, was named the platform’s Best Debut Novel of 2022, and was adapted into a limited series on Apple TV Plus.
What you need to know going in
Trading her Marvel superhero costume for a lab coat, Brie Larson stars as Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant and unrelenting chemist at Hastings Research Institute navigating the 1950s patriarchy. Although her contributions to abiogenesis (the theory that life rose from non-life forms billions of years ago) blow that of her male counterparts out of the water, Elizabeth’s credibility is questioned at every corner.
Along the way, Elizabeth meets and falls in love with Calvin Evans (played by Lewis Pullman in the limited series), a famous and renowned scientist with whom she works at Hastings. Because of her male-dominated field, Elizabeth dodges accusations that she’s “sleeping her way to the top.”
In reality, Calvin sees Elizabeth for the intelligent, funny, and opinionated chemist she is, and eventually, they have a daughter together, Madeleine Zott, or Mad Zott for short.
Unfortunately, Elizabeth and Calvin never marry, so Mad being born out of wedlock becomes the crux upon which Hastings Research Institute hinders their decision to fire Elizabeth. Eventually, she is approached by Walter Pine, a television producer at KCTV who offers her a job as host of a daytime cooking show called Supper at Six.
Elizabeth accepts because she needs the income to support her family. She loves to cook, after all, and she’s great at it. She proceeds headfirst into the venture, but her adamant demand that she be able to incorporate chemistry into the gig goes overlooked by Walter until the cameras start rolling and it’s too late to stop her.
Before long, Supper at Six becomes a national sensation, and Elizabeth is its unsuspecting star. All the while, Elizabeth works overtime to continue her chemistry career, even remodeling her home kitchen into a science lab. Supper at Six is fine and dandy, but chemistry is her passion.
She belongs in the lab, not the kitchen, and she will do anything in her power to get back to Hastings Research Institute, or any science lab for that matter.
Still, there’s no denying Elizabeth’s magnetism. Women all around the world tune into Supper at Six religiously, keen to absorb any bits of advice Elizabeth imparts, which nine times out of ten contain a chemistry flair. Meanwhile, KCTV’s executive producer Phil Lebensmal loathes everything about Elizabeth’s unruly nature.
All he wants her to do is stick to the teleprompters, promote their sponsors, and smile. But Elizabeth marches to the beat of her own drum.
How does Lessons in Chemistry end?
By the time we near the third act of Lessons in Chemistry, an entire subplot has been co-existing alongside the nationwide uproar about Elizabeth’s tenure on Supper at Six. Mad, Elizabeth’s genius daughter, is on the hunt to learn more about her father, Calvin Evans.
Now, one thing we didn’t state earlier that must be said now is that Calvin is accidentally killed early on in the book. We’re burying this detail in case the average reader wishes to experience that bombshell on their own. Nevertheless, his death creates ripples throughout both Elizabeth’s and Mad’s life.
Determined to learn about her father, Mad buries herself in research at the library where she eventually crosses paths with Reverend Wakey, who, it just so happens, was once pen pals with her father. Mad is drip-fed various facts about Calvin from Wakey, her neighbor-slash-family-friend Harriet, and research of her own finding.
Over time, she learns that Calvin was an orphan at All Saints Home for Boys in Sioux City. His love for science took root after a mysterious man associated with a foundation began donating science books to the orphanage.
Meanwhile, Supper at Six experiences a massive surge in ratings after Walter Pine takes over for Lebensmal as executive producer of KCTV. This came after Lebensmal’s attempt to physically and sexually assault Elizabeth for disobeying orders (an occurrence Elizabeth is unfortunately all too familiar with). As a result of Supper at Six’s uptick in popularity, Elizabeth is approached by Franklin Roth, an award-winning journalist, looking to conduct an exclusive interview for Life Magazine.
Elizabeth is accustomed to turning down these kinds of interviews because usually, all they want is an inside scoop into her relationship with Calvin Evans. This time, however, she’s reassured that the article will focus solely on her professional career.
It does. The article is immaculate and peels back the curtain into Elizabeth’s career triumphs and tribulations. Unfortunately, that’s not the article Roth’s editor at Life wants to publish, so what goes out into the world is a superficial cover that glosses over any and all of Elizabeth’s accomplishments. Just like that, she is tossed back into the box society demands she live inside and her chemistry career is ruined.
Elizabeth plunges into a deep depression that spans several months. Then, out of the blue, her former colleague at Hastings, Miss. Frask — who once co-conspired to get her fired — reveals that she was so incensed by Life’s article that she wrote to complain.
As it turns out, the Parker Foundation — the foundation that funds research at Hastings — got hold of this letter and conducted an investigation into the unethical behavior at Hastings and its head honcho, Dr. Donatti. Frask now works as head of personnel and she wants Elizbeth to join her as head of chemistry.
It’s all too good to be true, though. Elizabeth soon discovers that Avery Parker, the woman behind the Parker Foundation is actually Calvin’s biological mother. Knowing the turmoil Calvin endured at All Saints orphanage, Elizabeth is reluctant to pay Avery any mind, let alone accept the job as head chemist. However, Avery quickly explains the whole story.
It turns out that, like Elizabeth, Avery got pregnant and gave birth to Calvin before she was married. Worse, she was a teenager, and because of that, she was forced to give Calvin up for adoption. When she was old enough to seek Calvin out, she sent her lawyer Mr. Wilson to inquire after Calvin at All Saints. In the hope of squeezing some pity money from Mr. Wilson, the bishop at All Saints lied and said Calvin had died.
The bishop’s plan backfired, however, because the Parker Foundation traded money in favor of science book donations in Calvin’s honor.
When Calvin eventually became famous for his contributions to science, Avery tried tirelessly to contact him. Under the assumption that she was a random lady seeking his money, though, Calvin ignored her. By the time she tried to seek him out in person, it was too late.
Now, Avery is hoping to become a part of Elizabeth and Mad’s life, both professionally as the private funder of research at Hastings and personally as Mad’s grandmother.
No longer constrained by the obligations of the cooking show or prejudice in the workplace, Elizabeth resumes her abiogenesis research at Hastings, and the novel ends with her inviting Avery into her home for — you guessed it — supper.