Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, November 22, 2024

 

Lessons in Chemistry book covers in different countries – Covers, clockwise from top left, in the United States, in Britain, in Estonia, and in German

Briefly, in the words of the author, Bonnie Garmus:
“I set the book in the late 50s, early 60s and there's a woman, Elizabeth Zott, a chemist who's not allowed to be a chemist because she's unwed and pregnant, and she gets fired from her job for that crime, and she ends up taking a job as a very reluctant TV cooking show host.

But instead of teaching the housewives at home how to cook, she teaches them chemistry because she wants to remind them of their innate capability and in doing so, she changes the status quo.”

The novel is set in the fifties in balmy California where the great research universities and labs are; and no end of places that invite people to have a good time. In this setting arrives Elizabeth Zott, keen to make her career as a research chemist but having to battle all the way against the failures in her childhood upbringing – which she could do nothing about besides surviving – and the later disabilities heaped on her by the science establishment refusing to recognise her as a gifted and determined scientist.

Though she has already published papers and secured her M.Sc. in Chemistry from a prestigious university (University of California at Los Angeles, UCLA for short), and should have been working towards a Ph.D. at the same university, that attempt is botched by her guide and professor attempting to molest her sexually. She flees after poking a sharp number-two pencil six inches into his belly.

The only position she could get was as a lab technician in the fictional Hastings Institute, where Nobel-prize winning work is accomplished by brilliant scientists like Calvin Evans. Her encounter with him is the amusing story of the great man dismissing Elizabeth as a secretary when she appears to borrow some glass beakers for her work. It’s a put-down at first sight. The stand-off is tense until an encounter when he throws up on her dress after having one too many. She does not melt, but merely handles him as a patient.

Soon he takes her seriously and finds in her not only someone who understands his work and can critique it, but more, understands his own complex personality stemming from an even more cruel upbringing where he was molested by a pedophile priest in an orphanage after his parents (adoptive as it turns out) died. But he makes out all right and even goes to Cambridge University in UK and returns to the fictional town of Commons in California and a low paying job, selecting it purely because a pen-pal (who later became a Presbyterian clergyman) told him that Commons has the best weather for rowing. Rowing you see, is not only the author Bonnie Garmus’ passion, but one she devolves on Calvin Evans, and through him to Elizabeth Zott. There is an enormous amount of rowing lore and terminology in the novel, and descriptions of the brutal regimens of training required to succeed. 

Lewis Pullman as Calvin Evans and Brie Larson as Elisabeth Zott working in the lab from the Apple TV series

The pair make chemical headway in the lab and with each other. If chemistry is change as Elizabeth asserts then the two of them change and now attain a deep relationship with each other while intently pursuing their chemical research in Hastings. 

Elizabeth Zott and Calvin Evans collaborate in Hastings Institute

A stray dog they acquire and a leash that the town mandates combine to cause a freak accident while Calvin is jogging, and that causes the major turning point in the novel.

Calvin dies, but will Elizabeth be allowed to continue her work, funded by a secretive donor to for research in Abiogenesis – the theory that life originated from non-living matter, such as inorganic substances and simple organic compounds? No. The head of the chemistry department appropriates her research and publishes it as his own. She is thrown out of a job.

She has been left pregnant by Calvin Evans with the child named Mad, short for Madeline. How to support herself and a child? A chance encounter with the producer of afternoon TV programmes for housewives and children opens up a new horizon, a TV programme called Supper at Six, in which she opens up the vistas of Chemistry that underlie cooking, and goes on the air every weekday on a special set. 

Brie Larson as Elizabeth Scott hosts the TV Show ‘Supper at Six’

She transforms the show into a platform for science lessons for housewives while challenging gender biases. The show contains oodles of chemical knowledge about the proteins, amino acids and enzymes that make up food and how they transform under heat and various conditions into the tasty dinners every woman can make from fresh ingredients. The various segments of the show are very entertaining but they are all done in an air of seriousness, acknowledging how full of value is the time mothers pend on their family in preparing nourishing meals.

As in her previous career as a chemist, in TV production also there are bullying bosses who are constantly disparaging employees and asserting their male superiority. This culminates in the station chief of the TV, one Lebensmal (meaning ‘bad life’ in German), attempts to rape her. She is nobody, and he will have her. Fortunately, the brandishing of the 14-inch kitchen knife that every professional chef carries, is sufficient to repel his penile attack and render him inoperative.

Her extremely successful show is now syndicated nationally and Elizabeth Zott steps out of gentle penury into the limelight of a royalty earning TV star. But her ambition to return to chemistry  and take her research forward in the field of Abiogenesis, cannot long remain in abeyance. The erstwhile generous donor, Avery Parker of the Parker Foundation, who was keen to fund her work, turns out to be the (unwed) mother of Calvin Evans. She buys Hastings Institute and cleans it up, getting rid of the hostile, male chauvinist head of chemistry, Dr. Donatti, and putting Elizabeth in charge.

Madeline Zott and Six-Thirty, the dog, have a close protective relationship

The dog and the genius child of Elizabeth Zott and Calvin Evans have major roles. The novel was written to highlight how torturous the struggle was to recognise that women have minds and aspirations of their own, without reference to men in their lives. Women are as keen in intellect and as determined in their work habits as any male professional. 

It might be the basic tenet of feminism to take women seriously, as Elizabeth wished to be. There has been some progress in America and the West, and in other parts of the world in the last seventy years. But look at the way the Republican candidate for President in the Nov 5 elections in USA treats women. How many cases have been brought against him by women he molested? And his VP candidate has a such a low opinion of women that it almost amounts to the Nazi theme that officially encouraged and pressured women to fill the roles of mother and wife only. Women were excluded from all other positions of responsibility, including political and academic spheres. Nazi Germany promoted the cult that women were for Küssen, Kochen, und Kinder – kissing, cooking, and kids.

These ante-diluvian attitudes that persist in advanced countries, are demonstrated not only by the examples of leaders at the top, but in the statistics of the gender pay gap: according to current data, women in the United States are typically paid around 20% less than men for the same work. The gender pay gap in the EU is 16%. In India it is 18%. And so on. 

There are worse manifestations: in Afghanistan it is a crime for women to seek secondary education. In many countries women are forced to wear clothes to suppress their femininity – not because they want to, but because a male-dominated society decides what they shall wear.

Introduction to the Author and the Novel

Bonnie Garmus is a copywriter and creative director who has worked widely in the fields of technology, medicine, and education

Lessons in Chemistry is a novel by Bonnie Garmus, published in April 2022; it is Garmus's debut novel. It tells the story of Elizabeth Zott, who becomes a beloved cooking show host in 1960s Southern California after being fired as a chemist four years earlier. It went on to become an Apple TV miniseries.

Garmus had an experience as a creative director in an advertising agency. A male VP of a company she worked for appropriated and took credit for her ideas.  Garmus worked as a full-time copywriter while writing and taught herself some chemistry, from a 50s book, doing experiments indicated therein. 

She set the book in the late 50s, early 60s and there's a woman, Elizabeth Zott, a chemist who's not allowed to be a chemist because she's unwed and pregnant. She gets fired from her job for that crime, she ends up taking a job as a very reluctant TV cooking show host.

But instead of teaching the housewives at home how to cook, she teaches them chemistry because she wants to remind them of their innate capability and in doing so, she changes the status quo.

The book has been translated into 40 languages. All the women were called ‘average housewives’. The book resonates with women, but also with men.

The book has an underlying theme of balance. Chemical reactions are balanced. So too in rowing, unless your boat is balanced it keels over.

The book took 5 years to write. It was on the best seller list in 16 countries concurrently; 1m copies were sold in Germany alone. Reading clubs the world over have assigned this book.

The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments is a children's chemistry book written in 1960 by Robert Brent and illustrated by Harry Lazarus from which Bonnie Garmus got the chemistry knowledge for writing her novel

Six-Thirty was based on a dog she got from the pound, picked by her children. He had been abused (cigarette butts, teeth bashed, etc by a man who went to jail. But the dog listened to human speech, and once when she said in the morning she could not find her keys, the dog systematically searched various places, found her key and then deposited it at her feet. 

Bonnie Garmus wrote EZ as her role model, someone who knew exactly who she was, wasn’t going to apologise, and wasn’t going to put up with the limits prescribed by society for women. She ignored the limits because they are not based on science. Society operates on a lot of myths and she said NO to that.

What are the men readers taking away from the book? We’ve got to end sexism one day and maybe if we educate boys early that will contribute (the novel was adopted in two boys’ schools in London).

The leash is a metaphor for holding someone back. Calvin holds Six-Thirty back and comes to grief. Elizabeth bought the leash but blames herself. It is a metaphor for society holding us back.

Thirty or forty years ago men did not know how to keep their hands to themselves.

It is still happening. Bonnie Garmus says she has feedback from women who have been molested by male faculty even in 2023. 

Devika

Devika really enjoyed reading the novel chosen by KumKum. But something came up and she had to make a quick trip to Bengaluru and thought she’d have to miss the reading, but it turned out the evening was slack time at her daughter’s place and she could attend.

Devika chose this passage, or rather the passage chose her, thanks to the dog Six-Thirty. Being a dog lover, the moment Devika saw this passage, she thought this is the one for her. There was no looking at any other passage.

Brie Larson who acts as Elizabeth Zott in the TV Miniseries Lessons in Chemistry with her dog Six-Thirty, a goldendoodle (a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle)

Devika said there are so many dogs even in our own city that get abandoned like this; people drive them all the way somewhere and leave them. She doesn't know how they can be so heartless; your heart breaks when you see this dog looking lost on the road. There's really nothing much that we can do about it. 

The passage is lovely, said KumKum. Devika said Kumkum has seen dogs being abandoned in front of her Fort Kochi  house and it's heartbreaking. Devika remarked that it’s so lovely that somebody has adopted a dog like Six Thirty and he becomes such an intimate part of their lives in the novel. KumKum liked the way the name was chosen; the author, Garmus, has a dog of her own known as Ninety-Nine, and her friend has a dog who is Eighty-Nine. 

In Kerala dogs all learn Malayalam but they are given English names like  Tommy, Chocolate, Brownie, Pluto, etc. Arundhaty calls her dog Vincent Van Gogh. Thus Kerala dogs are given English names – and names like Shetty, Lakshmi, Deepika etc do not occur. Arundhaty’s sister Aishwarya had this huge dog and he was called Jude; it was a stray and was actually swallowed by a snake. Pamela had a pussycat named Kitty and her mother-in-law used to speak only Malayalam; so when she called out to her pussycat, ‘Come Kitty’ and she came to her, her mother-in-law looked at Pamela and said, ‘Ah you have taught your cat English.’

Devika thanked the other readers.

Priya

Priya said this is a book she read in her other book club. She thanked Joe for selecting numerous interesting passages for the readers and making life easier for them.

The book treats a modern subject and provides a very fresh take on feminism. The passage Priya was reading is about a very specific type of discrimination against women, which in identical circumstances is never held against men, namely having a child out of wedlock. There is also comedy in the passage that shows how ridiculous are the views of patriarchal men who attempt to dominate society.

Dr. Donatti first plagiarises the research of Elizabeth Zott and then fires her for being pregnant and unwed

Priya was surprised that in 2022, the year the novel was published this Dr. Donatti who headed the lab where Elizabeth Zott was employed as a chemist would speak accusingly to her about being an unwed mother and objecting to that on institutional grounds.

Such patriarchy exists even now, and through this book the author is inveighing against it.

While the narration is very fresh and modern, Priya said she really missed good prose in the book, prose of a literary quality. But it was a nice story and very fresh.

KumKum said she liked the style of the author’s writing; it is quite modern and contemporary. But Priya said most American writing is like this. Priya was perhaps looking for something which is not there.

Kavita said it is a very casual way of writing. Priya agreed that since the subject was chemistry and there's a lot of science, it is perhaps unrealistic to expect poetic prose

You can imagine the kind of patriarchy women have to face. He had no business at all to bring her status of being wed or unwed while cohabiting into the employment conditions as a chemist. Being pregnant made her doubly guilty of transgressing societal mores in Dr. Donatti’s view.

Priya once again thanked Joe for selecting this strong confrontational passage with tis humorous dialogue.

Joe said it may not be literary, but the wring is very crisp, and down-to-earth, and the repartees are quite on point. Elizabeth Zott shows up the lab director in a comedic light.

Dr. Donatti gets fired eventually, Thomo interposed. He deserves to be fired. Miss Frask comes out unscathed  and she's on Elizabeth’s side at the end, though here she aids Dr. Donatti in firing Elizabeth Zott. Dr. Donatti is a plagiarist also, one who appropriated Elizabeth’s work as his own.

Joe said Miss Frask represents an important type of woman in this novel, because as feminists and champions of women’s rights are not tired of saying, women often militate against their own rights. Miss Frask falls completely in line with the prevailing patriarchal mores. She supports Dr. Donatti and brings out all the records to get Elizabeth Zott fired. So women are themselves very often their own enemies.

Arundhaty said in most cases, even today, even for a small issue, the women always turn against a discriminated woman instead of being on her side. “We women put down our own kind,” said Arundhaty.

Priya cited India’s Finance Minster, Ms. Nirmala Seetharaman, as saying medieval India had liberated women like Rani Lakshmi Bai. True, but society practised rank discrimination upon women in general and it was therefore necessary for reformers in all parts of India to advocate for women; an example is Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Bengal, Mrs Mary Roy in Kerala, etc.

Priya contended that women have always tried to take the benefit of being a weaker sex and then always putting the blame on men. According to her women should get over that syndrome, the victim syndrome.

Joe replied that women can't get over that syndrome until men get over their own defects of male domination which is evident in modern society, and is widespread, occurring in developed societies too. Look at the elected President and Vice President of the U.S. Consider the totality of their statements about women – so if people in power are so retrograde in their views about women, is it any wonder that large swathes of American women citizens are fearful?

Nevertheless, Priya stated she was glad that Ms. Kamala Harris did not win, because ‘she would not have  benefited women’s causes in any way.‘

In Priya’s opinion these women activists are not really benefiting women in the right way. They are just making women more militant, but also more illogical because ‘a woman has her place.’ Just like a man has a certain, you know, identity, a woman also.

Arundhaty asked if Priya in her working life as a journalist she had faced discrimination against gender. No, she replied 

She said a woman employee in the Calicut office slapped a case against her boss of harassment – Priya implied it was a false case.

Priya may think that that the Finance Minister extolling people like Jhansi ki Rani means women were already liberated then, and are therefore safe in modern India. But is that true?

Consider that in 2022, there were almost 6,400 reported dowry deaths in India. Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of reported dowry deaths in that year with over 2,000 cases.

India is not unique in killing or molesting women, or heaping disabilities on them. Consider that just the other day in France they had a national event against Femicide where thousands protested against femicides and sexual and sexist violence in France. Statistics indicate that 1 in 10 women in France are victims of domestic violence and as many as six women die every month as a result of violence perpetrated against them by their husband, boyfriend or partner.

All this is still happening worldwide. Bonnie Garmus says she has feedback from women who have got bad treatment from their professors even in 2023. 

One in six American women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, she cites. It’s one in five in UK. 

The World Heath Organisation reports that violence against women is pervasive worldwide: one in three women, around 736 million, are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner – a number that has remained largely unchanged over the past decade. 

Kavita

Kavita took the passage where Elizabeth Zott goes to meet her obstetrician. She finds that he's very empathetic towards her being pregnant and all the problems she's facing. He encourages her to discuss everything, with him as a confidant.

She used to do very strenuous exercise: 10,000 meters  a day of rowing on the erg machine.

A rowing machine costing about USD 900, informally called an erg, can deliver a full body workout

Joe said there's a tremendous amount of rowing lore and terminology in this book, which comes of the author herself being an enthusiastic rower..

Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) rows in a pair with Calvin Evans (Lewis Pullman)

Kavita had to look up the meaning of erg, which is the unit of energy in physics, but here it refers to the rowing machine.

Priya noted that in the end, they have quite a few rowing enthusiasts in the book, people who joined the rowing club and embraced its discipline of energetic exercise and balance.

Arundhathy

Arundhaty chose her passage about dogs understanding human speech because she felt it was very charming. Elizabeth treats her dog like a person, and speaks to him as a friend. The dog's thoughts are portrayed beautifully.

The passage also has some profound statements about humans, their behaviour, and their typical slanted way of assessing other creatures.

The way Six-Thirty, Elizabeth’s dog, rationalises the use of the word ‘smart’ in interesting. As in the sentence, 'cows are not smart, because cows do not do 

tricks.'

It explores the relationship between mother and child, and the false words that parents use to create an aura around their children, which again is beautifully narrated as an observation of the super intelligent dog Six-Thirty.

Madeline Zott and Six-Thirty, the dog, watch Elizabeth Zott's cooking show, Supper at Six

Very nice, said KumKum of the reading.

Joe noted that it's one of the conceits of this novel that dogs can understand human speech, and have a thousand-word vocabulary to understand humans with ease. Arundhaty believes in some of that. Because her dog actually has a vocabulary of 49 words.

You can communicate, far beyond just Go, Shake Hands and Sit Down, etc. Animals communicate with humans also with their eyes.

It reminds one of that movie where the baby talks. There’s a movie in which the baby understands all that the adults are talking about and thinking – Look Who's Talking.

Priya said her dog understands Bhojpuri better than English, because her domestic staff speak in that language (from Bihar). Even English, her dog Enzo responds to. So he knows two languages.

Shobha

In Shoba’s passage the author introduces a new character, Harriet Sloane. Harriet Sloane represents the typical 1960s housewife, who is bored with her life and her husband, looking for a way out of her repressed life. She does not have many choices.

In Elizabeth Zott, her neighbour, she's a different woman who has thrown off some of the shackles keeping women bound in assigned roles. Zott’s mind is sharp and analytical. She will not be overcome by people or circumstances.

Harriet Sloane (played by Aja Naomi King), an older neighbor who had already raised a few children, took on a familial role that allowed Zott to continue working as the sole provider for herself and Madeline Zott

Sloane becomes her strongest ally. Zott too cannot do without Harriet Sloane, because she is almost falling apart with her baby and her job, and being a single mother.

In Harriet Sloane the author is exploring the other woman, the woman who's not a career woman. But she too has her share of difficulty.

Very nice. This narrates the beginning of a mutually sustaining friendship. They become quite close to each other and support each other. They wouldn't survive without each other. Zott also helps Harriet to get rid of her abusive husband.

The story is balancing out, because on one hand, there's Elizabeth who is all about her career. And then this other lady who has no career but is experiencing a lot of the prejudices and difficulties common to that period of American history, and still not entirely overcome.

Thomo

The dog Six-Thirty has been universally loved by readers of the book and Thomo selected a passage which contains a reference to that. This is where Elizabeth gives strange names to those close to her, like Six-Thirty for the dog because they met him for the first time at at 6:30pm.

In  naming her daughter, she looks at her newborn baby's eyes and it seems to remind her of her late partner, as if he was staring back at her. She was mad at Calvin for having lied to her about research funding and getting her pregnant and running outdoors in ballet slippers.

Elizabeth Zott names her daughter Mad

When the nurse asked her what she wanted to name her child, she replied ‘Mad’, without thinking about what the nurse had actually asked. The nurse duly noted it and the birth certificate came out as Mad Zott.

Later when Elizabeth wanted to change the baby’s name, the dog  Six-Thirty conveys the name Madeline telepathically to Elizabeth, and that settled it.

At the beginning of the book Six-Thirty knows about 100-103 words. By the end of the book, it's increased to  981 words. 

That was a very nice passage, said KumKum. There is a reference also to Proust’s novel  À la recherche du temps perdu being open at a certain page. Undoubtedly it was the page where a madeleine cake is dipped in tea and triggers a host of childhood memories in Proust. Nowadays it is called a ‘madeleine moment’, a trigger for nostalgia. Refer to this account of how the madeleine moment began life in literature.

There is also a children's book titled  Madeline, a classic written by Ludwig Bemelmans concerning the adventures in Paris by a young girl in a boarding school –

Cover of the book Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans, a book known for its rhyme scheme and colorful images of Paris

On the other hand there is an actual woman by the name of Madeline in English literature:

Full of this whim was thoughtful Madeline:

      The music, yearning like a God in pain,

      She scarcely heard: her maiden eyes divine,

      Fix'd on the floor, saw many a sweeping train

(The Eve of St. Agnes by John Keats)

The name Madeline is interesting. How to pronounce it? If you follow Keats’ poem The Eve of St. Agnes, then he rhymes it with ‘divine’ and ‘mine’ – so it’s clear how Keats wanted that evocative name to be pronounced. But in modern America it is pronounced to rhyme with maudlin, an adjective that reveals the origin of both words is the name Mary Magdalene, the penitent woman in the gospel of Luke (7:38).

Zakia

Zakia read from chapter 20, where Madeline explains her chalk drawings of stick figures to her mother, Elizabeth. Madeline is actually using the chalk which she got from her childhood to draw this picture.

Elizabeth Zott and her genius daughter Madeline

She points to the picture, and says it is a picture of her and her family, placing it on the table in front of her mother as she leaned up against her, cuddling. It was a charming scene, this sensitive child, such a genius. Her mother is trying her best to make everything seem normal. The way she picturised it is adorable.

Pamela

The passage of Pamela discusses the differences between men and women. Her friend Harriet warns Elizabeth that her prospective employer may be put off by her being smart. 

The reaction is typical. Pamela said that God made men and women different but gave both equal amounts of grey matter. On that level there’s absolutely no difference, at least no built-in difference. Other societal factors may create the difference over time. Pink and blue is an aspect of such artificial differentiation. There is this book called Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. The book states that most common relationship problems between men and women are a result of fundamental psychological differences between the sexes. It brings out that differences arise from upbringing, and the kind of society in which we are brought up. 

Joe remarked many of the institutions that humans have erected like churches, religions, and so on, have ingrained in them this distinction and foster disabilities on the females. For example, in the Catholic Church you cannot have a priest who is a woman, which is normal in the Anglican communion. A woman cannot even be a deacon in the Catholic Church. Ruling parties, parliaments, judges and jurists – all discriminate. It is not until very recently that the formal restrictions have been removed in law, but the informal restrictions still remain 

In most families women are discriminated against; they are seen as second-class citizens, as not meriting inheritance and legacy, for example. Joe has seen women who themselves value male children but not female. 

In contrast in the Nair community Devika said they need to have girls to carry the family name. Women are very important among Nairs and the old matriarch  was a tough cookie – they could really rule the household.  Women continued to live in their own homes; they never went to their husband’s home. Even today the community needs a girl and is excited when a girl is born. Devika gave an example of a friend who is a mother, and has the father living in her mother's household. Now her husband has to come and live in her house. When Devika’s sister, Gopika, had a grandchild they were all very happy to have someone to continue the matrilineal line. Joe said approvingly that Nairs are unique in that way.

Pamela thanked Joe for having selected the passage she chose to read. 

KumKum

KumKum too thanked Joe for selecting a passage she liked to read.  At first she was thinking of the Six-Thirty passage ultimately chosen by Devika.

KumKum remarked at the end to Joe that it was a beautiful piece. There were several rounds of laughter during the reading, such as Mrs. Fillis asking Elizabeth if her leg edema might not be a “by-product of faulty hydraulic conductivity combined with an irregular osmotic reflection coefficient of plasma proteins.” Mrs. Fillis has an investigative scientific strain to her thinking, clearly! 

Another item was Mrs Fillis self-qualifying herself for heart surgery as a career based on her extensive experience sewing the wounds of her sons who were “always tearing holes in themselves.”

KumKum had further written the account below for the blog.

The novel is set in the 1960s—a time when societal expectations for women were rigidly defined – Lessons in Chemistry tells of the unconventional and empowering story of Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant scientist navigating a world that consistently underestimates her. While her heart belongs to science, Elizabeth’s journey defies the norms as she becomes an unlikely television cooking show host, using her platform to teach her audience far more than recipes.

Bonnie Garmus’ debut novel is a sharp, witty, and heartfelt exploration of resilience, love, and the courage to defy expectations. Seamlessly blending humour with poignant social commentary, it captures the struggles and triumphs of a fiercely intelligent woman in a male-dominated world. With richly drawn characters and a protagonist who refuses to conform, Lessons in Chemistry is a celebration of independence, ambition, and the power of standing out – on your own terms. The author was in her late sixties when Lessons in Chemistry was published in 2022. The book became an instant success with the reading public and the critics worldwide. The book was translated into 42 languages.

As a character,Elizabeth Zott is both deeply relatable and profoundly inspiring. Her brilliance as a chemist is matched only by her determination to live life on her own terms. Yet, Garmus doesn’t portray Elizabeth as a one-dimensional figure of perfection. She is vulnerable, stubborn, and at times prickly – traits that make her human.

Elizabeth’s journey from a sidelined scientist to a beloved television personality is a testament to her ingenuity and defiance of societal norms. On the TV cooking show Supper at Six, Elizabeth refuses to pander to her audience with the expected cheerful homemaker act. Instead, she uses her time on air to deliver incisive lessons about science, independence, and self-worth, subtly challenging viewers to question their own lives.

Her relationship with Calvin Evans, a fellow scientist and kindred spirit, provides an emotional anchor for the story. Calvin’s unwavering respect for Elizabeth’s intellect and individuality stands in stark contrast to the patronising attitudes of most men in her life, adding depth to their bond.

Elizabeth’s transformation into a television host is both surprising and inevitable. Her cooking show becomes a cultural phenomenon not because she caters to societal expectations, but because she subverts them. By teaching chemistry through cooking, she empowers her viewers—especially women—to see themselves as capable and intelligent, sparking subtle acts of rebellion against oppressive norms.

KumKum read a piece from Chapter 29 about a woman homemaker in the live audience of Supper at Six who is inspired to follow her dream to become a heart surgeon. The woman, Mrs. George Fillis, was a thirty-eight years old, a homemaker and mother of five boys. Elizabeth inspires her to try to become a heart surgeon. When Mrs. Fillis asked Elizabeth where she should start, the reply she got was very straightforward, “The public library, followed by the MCATs, school, and residency.”

Joe

Joe’s passage was from chapter 30, where the bullying boss of KCTV, the TV station which broadcasts Elizabeth’s Supper at Six program, prepares to fire her. At the end of the encounter he faints when Elizabeth Zott brandishes a knife when he attempts to molest her during what he calls her ‘exit interview.’

Lebensmal, the TV station director, took his pecker out in an exit interview for Elizabeth Zott, but fainted when she warned him off with a kitchen knife

Devika said the passage was actually funny in so many ways. Yeah, it was so hilarious, said Kavita. There are so many laughs and Kavita felt really happy reading this book.

Devika too enjoyed the book. Elizabeth Zott is an amazing character, thought Devika.

She's a very brave woman, chimed in Pamela. Yes, very courageous, said Zakia.

KumKum said she did lots of work, reading everything, books, and late in 2022, when she was in America she heard from her friend, Rivca, in Mumbai, who belongs to a book club, that they had recommended this book. At that time, it was available only as an expensive hardback, so their book club managed with three copies shared among the whole group.

Her friend told her it was a beautiful book. KumKum  borrowed it from the local library in Arlington where her daughter lives, and read it. She agreed this would be a good book. Joe, initially was a naysayer. But KumKum insisted and later he said, okay. But after reading he too found it was an interesting book.

KumKum said the language was quite adequate to the story plot set in the sixties. It uses a modern conversational idiom, but the language is crisp – after all, the author was a copy writer for an ad agency.

The language is contemporary and easy to read. Kavita said in two days, she finished it, because once she got going she wanted to see how it would end. Incidentally, Bonnie Grams, the author says she had to kill off Calvin Evans in order to give free rein to the development of Elizabeth’s character.

Kavita’s husband Joe, told her to watch a movie but she insisted she had to finish the novel first. It kept you engrossed, actually.

A literary type of language would not have been appropriate for this novel, said KumKum. In this very scene the author is graphic and the language carries the weight of an unflinching Elizabeth Zott, responding to male domination, not by getting flustered or angry, but by being dead serious in her warning to the TV director to keep his hands off her.

This man Lebensmal (the name means Bad Life, in German) puts on an unbelievable act, but Elizabeth Zott stands her ground unflinchingly, and the mere sight of her chef’s knife makes him faint! Very dramatic!

Devika was picturing his face. He totally deserved the heart attack.

KumKum said her favourite journalist, M.J. Akbar, turned out to be such a stupid guy, a serial molester of women, first brought to light by the journalist Priya Ramani. It was a MeToo moment and a whole slew of others who had been silent come out to narrate the vulgar ways in which he took advantage of young professional women.

What a stupid fellow this famous editor of the Calcutta newspaper, The Telegraph,  turned out to be. In the film world it is common, and perhaps in the music world, all this type of molestation does take place – they call it the ‘casting couch,’ a euphemism for the illegal practice of demanding sexual favours from job applicants in exchange for employment, especially in the entertainment industry. 

There was another case of Tarun Tejpal, editor of the magazine Tehelka, accused of raping a junior in Goa at an office function. Shoma Choudhury, the managing editor, refused to corroborate the story which the junior shared, and ultimately Mr Tejpal was acquitted by the court in Goa. Activists say the court put the victim on trial, rather than the accused.

Geetha

Geetha thanked Joe for selecting some sample passages, among which she chose the last one where Zott gives an inspirational farewell speech to her TV audience. 

Elizabeth decides to leave the TV cooking show Supper at Six, and return to her original vocation of being a research chemist. She announces she is leaving to the live audience, much to the dismay of her viewers.

Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) in Supper at Six, her cooking show turned into chemistry class

Life is unpredictable, like science, she says. Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of the America's most beloved cooking show, Supper at Six. Her unusual approach to cooking, combining one tablespoon of acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride, proves innovative. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy, because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn't just teaching women to cook, she's daring them to change the status quo of women. It's a 30-minute, five-day-a-week lesson in life for women – who we are capable of becoming –  and not who we are.

Geetha thought the farewell address was very inspiring for women. Yes, it was lovely, said KumKum. Truly inspiring. Quite an impactful speech.

Elizabeth Zott was such a determined woman. She didn't know where her living would come from, but she had decided to quit. She goes on to thank, Harriet Sloane, for making her realise that her future didn't lie in these classes or sessions at TV show. Harriet is embarrassed to be acknowledged on television.

Passages selected by the Readers

Devika – Chapter 7: A dog follows Zott from the grocery and is made their pet, Six-Thirty

Many people go to breeders to find a dog, and others to the pound, but sometimes, especially when it's really meant to be, the right dog finds you.

It was a Saturday evening, about a month later, and Elizabeth had run down to the local deli to get something for dinner. As she left the store, her arms laden with a large salami and a bag of groceries, a mangy, smelly dog, hidden in the shadows of the alley, watched her walk by. Although the dog hadn't moved in five hours, he took one look at her, pulled himself up, and followed.

Calvin happened to be at the window when he saw Elizabeth strolling toward the house, a dog following a respectful five paces behind, and as he watched her walk, a strange shudder swept through his body. "Elizabeth Zott, you're going to change the world," he heard himself say. And the moment he said it, he knew it was true.

She was going to do something so revolutionary, so necessary, that her name despite a never-ending legion of naysayers-would be immortalized. And as if to prove that point, today she had her first follower.

"Who's your friend?" he called out to her, shaking off the odd feeling.

"It's six thirty," she called back after glancing at her wrist.

Six-Thirty was badly in need of a bath. Tall, gray, thin, and covered with barbed-wire-like fur that made him look as if he'd barely survived electrocution, he stood very still as they shampooed him, his gaze fixed on Elizabeth.

"I guess we should try to find his owner," Elizabeth said reluctantly. "I'm sure someone is worried to death."

"This dog doesn't have an owner," Calvin assured her, and he was right. Later calls to the pound and listings in the newspaper's lost and found column turned up nothing. But even if it had, Six-Thirty had already made his intentions clear: to stay.

In fact, "stay" was the first word he learned, although within weeks, he also learned at least five others. That was what surprised Elizabeth most-Six-Thirty's ability to learn.

“Do you think he’s unusual?” She asked Calvin more than once. He seems to pick things up so quickly.”

“He’s grateful,” Calvin said. “He wants to please us.”

But Elizabeth was right: Six-Thirty had been trained to pick things up quickly.

Bombs, specifically.

Before he'd ended up in that alley, he'd been a canine bomb-sniffer trainee at Camp Pendleton, the local marine base. Unfortunately, he'd failed miserably. Not only could he never seem to sniff out the bomb in time, but he also had to endure the praise heaped upon the smug German shepherds who always did. He was eventually discharged — not honorably— by his angry handler, who drove him out to the highway and dumped him in the middle of nowhere. Two weeks later he found his way to that alley. Two weeks and five hours later, he was being shampooed by Elizabeth and she was calling him Six-Thirty.

Priya – Ch 13: Zott gets fired By Donatti, the department head, for being pregnant and unwed. She disputes.

"I'm afraid you've put us in a terrible, terrible position, Miss Zott," scolded Dr. Donatti a week later as he pushed a termination notice across the table in her direction.

"You're firing me?" Elizabeth said, confused.

"I'd like to get through this as civilly as possible."

"Why am I being fired? On what grounds?"

"I think you know."

"Enlighten me," she said, leaning forward, her hands clasped together in a tight mass, her number-two pencil behind her left ear glinting in the light. She wasn't sure from where her composure came, but she knew she must keep it.

He glanced at Miss Frask, who was busy taking notes.

"You're with child," Donatti said. "Don't try and deny it."

"Yes, I'm pregnant. That is correct."

"That is correct?" he choked. "That is correct?"

"Again. Correct. I am pregnant. What does that have to do with my work?"

"Please!"

"I'm not contagious," she said, unfolding her hands. "I do not have cholera. No one will catch having a baby from me."

"You have a lot of nerve," Donatti said. "You know very well women do not continue to work when pregnant. But you—you're not only with child, you're unwed.

It's disgraceful."

"Pregnancy is a normal condition. It is not disgraceful. It is how every human being starts."

"How dare you," he said, his voice rising. "A woman telling me what pregnancy is. Who do you think you are?"

She seemed surprised by the question. "A woman," she said

"Miss Zott," Miss Frask stated, "our code of conduct does not allow for this sort of thing and you know it. You need to sign this paper, and then you need to clean out your desk. We have standards."

But Elizabeth didn't flinch. "I'm confused," she said. "You're firing me on the basis of being pregnant and unwed. What about the man?"

"What man? You mean Evans?" Donatti asked.

"Any man. When a woman gets pregnant outside of marriage, does the man who made her pregnant get fired, too?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Would you have fired Calvin, for instance?"

"Of course not!"

"If not, then, technically, you have no grounds to fire me."

Donatti looked confused. What? "Of course, I do," he stumbled. "Of course, I do! You're the woman! You're the one who got knocked up!"

"That's generally how it works. But you do realize that a pregnancy requires a man's sperm."

"Miss Zott, I'm warning you. Watch your language."

"You're saying that if an unmarried man makes an unmarried woman pregnant, there is no consequence for him. His life goes on. Business as usual."

"This is not our fault," Frask interrupted. "You were trying to trap Evans into marriage. It's obvious."

"What I know," she said, pushing a stray hair away from her forehead, "is that Calvin and I did not want to have children. I also know that we took every precaution to ensure that outcome. This pregnancy is a failure of contraception, not morality. It's also none of your business."

"You've made it our business!" Donatti suddenly shouted. "And in case you weren't aware, there is a surefire way not to get pregnant and it starts with an "A'! We have rules, Miss Zott! Rules!"

"Not on this you don't," Elizabeth said calmly. "I've read the employee manual front to back."

"It's an unwritten rule!"

"And thus not legally binding."

Kavita –  Ch 15: Zott visits the obstetrician Mason and confesses how much rowing she does on the erg machine

She looked away. She didn't really know him. Worse, she wasn't sure, despite his assurances, that her feelings were allowable. She'd come to believe she was the only woman on earth who'd planned to remain childless. "If I'm being perfectly honest," she finally said, her voice heavy with guilt, "I don't think I can do this. I was not planning on being a mother."

"Not every woman wants to be a mother," he agreed, surprising her. "More to the point, not every woman should be." He grimaced as if thinking of someone in particular. "Still, I'm surprised by how many women sign up for motherhood considering how difficult pregnancy can be morning sickness, stretch marks, death.

Again, you're fine," he added quickly, taking in her horrified face. "It's just that we tend to treat pregnancy as the most common condition in the world— as ordinary as stubbing a toe-when the truth is, it's like getting hit by a truck. Although obviously a truck causes less damage." He cleared his throat, then made a note in her file.

"What I mean to say is, the exercise is helping. Although I'm not sure how you erg properly at this stage. Pulling into the sternum would be problematic. What about The Jack LaLanne Show? Ever watch him?"

At the mention of Jack LaLanne's name, Elizabeth's face fell.

"Not a fan," he said. "No problem. Just the erg, then."

"I only kept on with it," she offered in a low voice, "because it exhausts me to the point where I can sometimes sleep. But also because I thought it might, well—"

"I understand," he said, cutting her off and looking both ways as if making sure no one else could hear. "Look, I'm not one of those people who believe a woman should have to—" He stopped abruptly. "Nor do I believe that—" He stopped again. "A single woman... a widow ... it's ... Never mind," he said as he reached for her file. "But the truth is, that erg probably made you stronger; made the baby stronger for that matter. More blood to the brain, better circulation. Have you noticed it has a calming effect on the baby? Probably all that back and forth."

She shrugged.

"How far are you erging?"

"Ten thousand meters."

"Every day?"

"Sometimes more."

Arundhaty – Ch 16: Zott has a baby girl and checks herself out to go home and feed Six-Thirty, their dog

“Library?” Elizabeth asked Six-Thirty about five weeks later. “I’ve got an appointment with Dr. Mason later today and I’d like to return these books first. I’m thinking you might enjoy Moby-Dick. It’s a story about how humans continually underestimate other life-forms. At their peril.”

 In addition to the receptive learning technique, Elizabeth had been reading aloud to him, long ago replacing simple children’s books with far weightier texts. “Reading aloud promotes brain development,” she’d told him, quoting a research study she’d read. “It also speeds vocabulary accumulation.” It seemed to be working because, according to her notebook, he now knew 391 words. 

“You’re a very smart dog,” she’d told him just yesterday, and he longed to agree, but the truth was, he still didn’t understand what “smart” meant. The word seemed to have as many definitions as there were species, and yet humans—with the exception of Elizabeth—seemed to only recognize “smart” if and when it played by their own rules. “Dolphins are smart,” they’d say. “But cows aren’t.” This seemed partly based on the fact that cows didn’t do tricks. In Six-Thirty’s view that made cows smarter, not dumber. But again, what did he know?

Three hundred ninety-one words, according to Elizabeth. But really, only 390.  Worse, he’d just learned that English wasn’t the only human language. Elizabeth revealed that there were hundreds, maybe thousands of others, and that no human spoke them all. In fact, most people spoke only one—maybe two—unless they were something called Swiss and spoke eight. No wonder people didn’t understand animals. They could barely understand each other. 

At least she realized he would not be able to draw. Drawing seemed to be the way young children preferred to communicate, and he admired their efforts even if their results fell short of the mark. Not a day went by when he didn’t witness little fingers earnestly pressing their chunky chalks into the sidewalk, their impossible houses and primitive stick figures filling the cement with a story no one understood but themselves.

 “What a pretty picture!” he heard a mother say earlier that week as she looked down on her child’s ugly, violent scribble. Human parents, he’d noted, had a tendency to lie to their children.

 “It’s a puppy,” her child said, her hands covered in chalk.

 “And such a pretty puppy!” the mother rejoined. “No,” the child said, “it’s not pretty. The puppy’s dead. It got killed!” Which Six-Thirty, after a second, closer look, found disturbingly accurate.

 “It is not a dead puppy,” the mother said sternly. “It is a very happy puppy, and it is eating a bowl of ice cream.” At which point the frustrated child flung the chalk across the grass and stomped off for the swings. 

He retrieved it. A gift for the creature. 

…

 Thirteen hours later, Dr. Mason held the infant up for an exhausted Elizabeth to see. 

…

I’ll swing by your room tomorrow. In the meantime, rest.”

But worried about Six-Thirty, Elizabeth checked herself out the very next morning.

…

“It’s a girl,” Elizabeth told him, smiling. 

Hello, Creature! It’s me! Six-Thirty! I’ve been worried sick! 

“I’m so sorry,” she said, unlocking the door. “You must be starving. It’s”—she consulted her watch—“nine twenty-two. You haven’t eaten in more than twenty-four hours.”

 Six-Thirty wagged his tail in excitement. Just as some families give their children names starting with the same letter (Agatha, Alfred) and others prefer the rhyme (Molly, Polly) his family went by the clock. He was named Six-Thirty to commemorate the exact time they’d become a family. And now he knew what the creature would be called. 

Hello, Nine Twenty-Two! he communicated. Welcome to life on the outside! How was the trip? Please, come in, come in! I’ve got chalk.

Shoba – Ch 17: Neighbour Harriet Sloane introduces herself to the pregnant and suffering Zott

"I'm a terrible mother," she said in a rush. "It's not just the way you found me asleep on the job, it's many things—or rather, everything."

"Be more specific."

"Well, for instance, Dr. Spock says I'm supposed to put her on a schedule, so I made one, but she won't follow it."

Harriet Sloane snorted

"And I'm not having any of those moments you're supposed to have— you know, the moments_"

"I don't"

"The blissful moments-"

"Women's magazine rot," Sloane interrupted. "You need to steer clear of that stuff. It's complete fiction."

"But the feelings I'm having—I I don't think they're normal. I never wanted to have children," she said, "and now I have one and I'm ashamed to say I've been ready to give her away at least twice now."

Mrs. Sloane stopped at the back door.

"Please," Elizabeth begged. "Don't think badly of me—"

"Wait," Sloane said, as if she'd misheard. "You've wanted to give her away ... twice?" Then she shook her head and laughed in a way that made Elizabeth shrink.

"It's not funny."

"Twice? Really? Twenty times would still make you an amateur."

Elizabeth looked away.

"Hells bells," huffed Mrs. Sloane sympathetically. "You're in the midst of the toughest job in the world. Did your mother never tell you?"

And at the mention of her mother, Sloane noticed the young woman's shoulders tense.

"Okay," she said in a softer tone. "Never mind. Just try not to worry so much. You're doing fine, Miss Zott. It'll get better."

“What if it doesn’t ?” Elizabeth said desperately. “What if .. what if it gets worse?”

“Although she wasn’t  the type to touch people Mrs. Sloane found herself leaving the sanctuary of the door to press down lightly on the young woman's shoulders "It gets better,"' he said. "What’s your name, Miss Zott”

“Elizabeth.”

Mrs. Sloane lifted her hands. "Well, Elizabeth, I'm Harriet."

Thomo – Ch 18 Elizabeth Zott considers names for her daughter.

So, sometime after it was all over, when a nurse came in with a stack of papers demanding to know something how she felt? she decided to tell her.

"Mad?" the nurse had asked.

"Yes, mad," Elizabeth had answered. Because she was.

"Are you sure?" the nurse had asked.

"Of course I'm sure!"

And the nurse, who was tired of tending to women who were never at their best-

—this one had practically engraved her name on her arm during labor-

—wrote "Mad" on the

birth certificate and stalked out.

So there it was: the baby's legal name was Mad. Mad Zott.

Elizabeth only discovered the issue a few days later at home when she'd stumbled across the birth certificate in a jumble of hospital paperwork still lumped on the kitchen

table. "What's this?" she'd said, looking at the fancy calligraphed certificate in astonishment. "Mad Zott? For god's sake! Did I take off that much skin?" She immediately set about to rename the baby, but there was a problem. She'd originally believed the right name would present itself the moment she saw her daughter's face,

but it hadn't.

Now, standing in her laboratory, looking down at the small lump who lay sleeping in a large basket lined with blankets, she studied her child's features. "Suzanne?" she said cautiously. "Suzanne Zott?" But it didn't feel right. "Lisa? Lisa Zott? Zelda Zott?" Nothing. "Helen Zott?" she tried. "Fiona Zott. Marie Zott?" Still nothing. She placed her hands on her hips, as if bracing herself. "Mad Zott," she finally ventured.

The baby's eyes flew open.

From his station beneath the table, Six-Thirty exhaled. He'd spent enough time on a playground to understand one could not name a child just anything, especially when the baby's name had only come about from misunderstanding or, in Elizabeth's case, payback. In his opinion, names mattered more than the gender, more than tradition, more than whatever sounded nice. A name defined a person—or in his case, a dog. It was a personal flag one waved the rest of one's life; it had to be right. Like his name, which he'd had to wait more than a year to receive. Six-Thirty. Did it get any better than that?

"Mad Zott," he heard Elizabeth whisper. "Dear god."

Six-Thirty got up and padded off to the bedroom. Unbeknownst to Elizabeth, he'd been stashing biscuits under the bed for months, a practice he'd started just after Calvin died.

It wasn't because he feared Elizabeth might forget to feed him, but rather because he'd made his own important chemical discovery. When faced with a serious problem, he'd found it helped to eat.

Mad, he considered, chewing a biscuit. Madge. Mary. Monica. He withdrew another biscuit, crunching loudly. He was very fond of his biscuits—yet another triumph from the kitchens of Elizabeth Zott. It made him think, Why not name the baby after something in the kitchen? Pot. Pot Zott. Or from the lab? Beaker. Beaker Zott. Or maybe something that actually meant chemistry-something like, well, Chem? But Kim. Like Kim Novak, his favorite actress from The Man with the Golden Arm. Kim Zott.

No. Kim was too short.

And then he thought, What about Madeline? Elizabeth had read him Remembrance of Things Past-he couldn't really recommend it— but he had understood that one part. The part about the madeleine. The biscuit. Madeline Zott? Why not?

"What do you think of the name 'Madeline,'" Elizabeth asked him after finding Proust inexplicably propped open on her nightstand

He looked back at her, his face blank.

Zakia Ch 20:  Madeline explains her chalk drawings of stick figures to her mother, Elizabeth.

My picture," she said, placing it on the table in front of her mother as she leaned up against her. It was another chalk drawing – Madeline preferred chalk over crayons – but because chalk smudged so easily, her drawings often looked blurry, as if her subjects were trying to get off the page. Elizabeth looked down to see a few stick figures, a dog, a lawn mower, a sun, a moon, possibly a car, flowers, a long box. Fire appeared to be destroying the south; rain dominated the north. And there was one other thing: a big swirly white mass right in the middle.

"Well," Elizabeth said, "this is really something. I can tell you've put a lot of work into this."

Mad puffed her cheeks as if her mother didn't know the half of it.

Elizabeth studied the drawing again. She'd been reading Madeline a book about how the Egyptians used the surfaces of sarcophagi to tell the tale of a life lived— its ups, its downs, its ins, its outs— all of it laid out in precise symbology. But as she read, she'd found herself wondering did the artist ever get distracted? Ink an asp instead of a goat? And if so, did he have to let it stand? Probably. On the other hand, wasn't that the very definition of life? Constant adaptations brought about by a series of never-ending mistakes? Yes, and she should know.

…

"Tell me about these people," she said to Mad, pointing at the stick figures.

"That's you and me and Harriet," Mad said. "And Six-Thirty. And that's you rowing," she said, pointing to the boxlike thing, "and that's our lawn mower. And this is fire over here. And these are some more people. That's our car. And the sun comes out, then the moon comes out, and then flowers. Get it?"

"I think so," Elizabeth said. "It's a seasonal story."

"No," Mad said. "It's my life story."

Elizabeth nodded in pretend understanding. A lawn mower?

"And what's this part?" Elizabeth asked, pointing at the swirl that dominated the picture.

"That's the pit of death," Mad said.

Elizabeth eyes widened in worry. "And this?" She pointed at a series of slanty lines. "Rain?"

"Tears," Mad said.

Elizabeth knelt down, her eyes level with Mad's. "Are you sad, honey?"

Mad placed her small, chalky hands on either side of her mother's face. "No. But you are."

Pamela – Ch 27: Harriet and Zott discuss the differences between men and women.

"You know what I mean," Harriet said. "You're smart. It might be off-putting to Mr. Pine, or that Lebensmal person. You know how men are."

Elizabeth considered this. No, she did not know how men were. With the exception of Calvin, and her dead brother, John, Dr. Mason, and maybe Walter Pine, she only ever seemed to bring out the worst in men. They either wanted to control her, touch her, dominate her, silence her, correct her, or tell her what to do. She didn't understand why they couldn't just treat her as a fellow human being, as a colleague, a friend, an equal, or even a stranger on the street, someone to whom one is automatically respectful until you find out they've buried a bunch of bodies in the backyard.

Harriet was her only real friend, and they agreed on most things, but on this, they did not. According to Harriet, men were a world apart from women. They required coddling, they had fragile egos, they couldn't allow a woman intelligence or skill if it exceeded their own. "Harriet, that's ridiculous," Elizabeth had argued. "Men and women are both human beings. And as humans, we're by-products of our upbringings, victims of our lackluster educational systems, and choosers of our behaviors. In short, the reduction of women to something less than men, and the elevation of men to something more than women, is not biological: it's cultural. And it starts with two words:

pink and blue. Everything skyrockets out of control from there."

Speaking of lackluster educational systems, just last week she'd been summoned to Mudford's classroom to discuss a related problem: apparently Madeline refused to participate in little girl activities, such as playing house.

"Madeline wants to do things that are more suited to little boys," Mudford had said. "It's not right. You obviously believe a woman's place is in the home, what with your"

-she coughed slightly— "television show. So talk to her. She wanted to be on safety patrol this week."

"Why was that a problem?"

"Because only boys are on safety patrol. Boys protect girls. Because they're bigger."

"But Madeline is the tallest one in your class."

"Which is another problem," Mudford said. "Her height is making the boys feel bad."

KumKum – Ch 29: A woman homemaker in the live audience of Supper at Six is inspired to follow her dreams to become a heart surgeon 

"I'm Mrs. George Fillis from Kernville," the woman said nervously as she stood up, "and I'm thirty-eight years old. I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your show. I ...

I can't believe how much I've learned. I know I'm not the brightest bulb," she said, her face pink with shame, "that's what my husband always says— and yet last week when you said osmosis was the movement of a less concentrated solvent through a semipermeable membrane to another more concentrated solvent, I found myself wondering if ...

well

"Go on."

"Well, if my leg edema might not be a by-product of faulty hydraulic conductivity combined with an irregular osmotic reflection coefficient of plasma proteins. What do you think?"

"A very detailed diagnosis, Mrs. Fillis," Elizabeth said. "What kind of medicine do you practice?"

"Oh," the woman stumbled, "no, I'm not a doctor. I'm just a housewife."

"There isn't a woman in the world who is just a housewife," Elizabeth said. "What else do you do?"

"Nothing. A few hobbies. I like to read medical journals."

"Interesting. What else?"

"Sewing."

"Clothes?"

"Bodies."

"Wound closures?"

Yes. I have five boys. They're always tearing holes in themselves.",

"And when you were their age you envisioned yourself becoming—"

"A loving wife and mother."

"No, seriously—"

"An open-heart surgeon," the woman said before she could stop herself.

The room filled with a thick silence, the weight of her ridiculous dream hanging like too-wet laundry on a windless day. Open-heart surgery? For a moment it seemed as if the entire world was waiting for the laughter that should follow. But then from one end of the audience came a single unexpected clap —immediately followed by another— and then another—and then ten more— and then twenty more and soon everyone in the audience was on their feet and someone called out, "Dr. Fillis, heart surgeon," and the clapping became thunderous.

"No, no," the woman insisted above the noise. "I was only kidding. I can't actually do that. Anyway, it's too late."

"It's never too late," Elizabeth insisted.

"But I couldn't. Can't."

"Why."

"Because it's hard."

"And raising five boys isn't?"

The woman touched her fingertips to the small beads of sweat dotting her forehead. "But where would someone like me even start?"

"The public library," Elizabeth said. "Followed by the MCATs, school, and residency."

The woman suddenly seemed to realize that Elizabeth took her seriously. "You really think I could do it?" she said, her voice trembling.

"What's the molecular weight of barium chloride?"

"208.23."

"You'll be fine."

"But my husband-"

“Is a lucky man. By the way, it’s Free Day, Mrs. Fillis,” Elizabeth said, "something my producer just invented. To show our support for your fearless future, you'll be taking home my chicken pot pie. Come on up and get it.”

Joe Ch 30: The bullying boss of the KCTV faints when Zott brandishes a knife

"As for the complaints," she acknowledged. "We've had a few. But they're nothing compared to the letters of support. Which I didn't expect. I have a history of not fitting in, Phil, but I'm starting to think that not fitting in is why the show works."

"The show does not work," he insisted. "It's a disaster!" What was happening here? Why did she keep talking as if she wasn't fired?

"Feeling like one doesn't fit is a horrible feeling," she continued, unruffled. "Humans naturally want to belong— it's part of our biology. But our society makes us feel that we're never good enough to belong. Do you know what I mean, Phil? Because we measure ourselves against useless yardsticks of sex, race, religion, politics, schools. Even height and weight"

"What?"

"In contrast, Supper at Six focuses on our commonalities— our chemistries. So even though our viewers may find themselves locked into a learned societal behavior – say, the old 'men are like this, women are like that' type of thing— the show encourages them to think beyond that cultural simplicity. To think sensibly. Like a scientist."

Phil heaved back in his chair, unfamiliar with the sensation of losing.

"That's why you want to fire me. Because you want a show that reinforces societal norms. That limits an individual's capacity. I completely understand." Phil's temple began to throb. Hands shaking, he reached for a pack of Marlboros, tapped one out, and lit it. For a moment all was quiet as he inhaled deeply, the radiant end emitting the smallest crackle, like a doll's campfire. As he exhaled, he studied her face. He got up abruptly, his body vibrating with frustration, and strode over to a sideboard littered with important-looking amber whiskeys and bourbons. Grabbing one, he tipped it into a thick-walled shot glass until the liquid hit the rim and threatened to spill over. He threw it down his throat and poured another, then turned to look at her. "There's a pecking order here," he said. "And it's about time you learned how that works."

She looked back at him, nonplussed. "I want to go on record saying that Walter Pine has been absolutely tireless in his efforts to get me to follow your suggestions. This is despite the fact that he, too, believes the show could and should be more. He shouldn't be punished for my actions. He's a good man, a loyal employee." At the mention of Walter, Lebensmal set down his glass and took another drag off his cigarette. He didn't like anyone who questioned his authority, but he could not and would not tolerate a woman doing so. With his pinstriped suit jacket parted at the waist, he locked his eyes on her, then slowly started to undo his belt. "I probably should have done this from the very beginning," he said, snaking the belt from its loops. "Establish the ground rules. But in your case, let's just consider this part of your exit interview."

Elizabeth pressed her forearms down on the armchair. In a steady voice she said, "I would advise you not to get any closer, Phil."

He looked at her meanly. "You really don't seem to understand who's in charge here, do you? But you will." Then he glanced down, successfully freeing the button and unzipping his pants. Removing himself, he stumbled over to her, his genitals bobbing limply just inches from her face.

She shook her head in wonder. She had no idea why men believed women found male genitalia impressive or scary. She bent over and reached into her bag.

"I know who I am!" he shouted thickly, thrusting himself at her. "The question is, who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm Elizabeth Zott," she said calmly, withdrawing a freshly sharpened fourteen-inch chef's knife. But she wasn't sure he'd heard. He'd fainted dead away.

Geetha – Ch 41: Zott gives an inspirational farewell speech to her TV audience. 

"I've very much enjoyed my time as the host of Supper at Six," Elizabeth continued, looking steadily into the camera, "but I've decided to return to the world of scientific research. I want to take this opportunity to thank you all not only for your viewership," she said, increasing her volume to be heard over the hubbub, "but also for your friendship. We've accomplished a lot together in the last two years. Hundreds of meals, if you can believe that. But supper isn't all we've made, ladies. We've also made history."

She took a step back, surprised, as the audience rose to its feet, roaring its agreement.

"BEFORE I GO," she shouted, "I THOUGHT YOU'D BE INTERESTED TO HEAR-" She held up her hands to quiet the audience. "Does anyone remember a Mrs.

George Fillis— the woman who had the audacity to tell us she wanted to become a heart surgeon?" She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a letter. "I have an update. It seems that Mrs. Fillis has not only completed her premed studies in record time but has also been accepted to medical school. Congratulations Mrs. George-no,

I'm sorry – Marjorie Fillis. We never doubted you for a second."

With that news, the audience instantly regained its vigor, and Elizabeth, despite her normally serious demeanor, pictured Dr. Fillis scrubbing in and could not help it. She smiled.

"But I'm betting Marjorie would agree," Elizabeth said, raising her voice again, "that the hard part wasn't returning to school, but rather having the courage to do so." She strode to her easel, marker in hand. CHEMISTRY IS CHANGE, she wrote.

"Whenever you start doubting yourself," she said, turning back to the audience, "whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of change – and change is what we're chemically designed to do. So when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others' opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. When you go home today, ask yourself what you will change. And then get started."