Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry is the latest pick for the Good Morning America book club.
Garmus’ debut novel, published Tuesday by Doubleday, tells the story of Elizabeth Zott, a chemist in 1960s California who becomes the host of a popular television cooking show. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the book “an energetic debut,” and wrote, “A more adorable plea for rationalism and gender equality would be hard to find.”
Deborah Roberts announced the selection of Garmus’ book on GMA, saying, “This is a fun one. It’s a dazzling debut novel. It’s smart; it has a comic twist.”
The novel is being adapted into an Apple television series starring Brie Larson, written by Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich), and executive produced by Larson, Grant, Jason Bateman, and Michael Costigan.
In an interview with the Bookseller, Garmus talked about how it feels to be a debut author at the age of 64.
“I feel great about having reached this goal now, at this age,” she said. “It just proves that age doesn’t matter.…I mean, I feel the same way I did at 30, but you do get one big gift: the ability to look at your characters with a little more empathy because you have been through some of their struggles.”
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
