PBS Books Readers Club welcomes international best-selling author Bonnie Garmus to discuss her novel Lessons in Chemistry. The episode premieres on July 30th at 8PM ET on Facebook, YouTube, and the PBS App.
Lessons in Chemistry follows Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant young chemist who struggles to be taken seriously in the male-dominated world of the 1950s. She forms a deep connection with her colleague and renowned chemist, Calvin Evans. But like science, life is unpredictable, and Zott unexpectedly finds herself a single mother, reluctantly hosting a cooking show—Supper at Six. While the show appears to be about cooking, Zott uses it as a platform to teach housewives not just about chemistry, but also to value their time and self-worth, ultimately becoming an unexpected feminist icon.
Lessons in Chemistry is a mix of humor, social commentary, and heart, exploring themes like feminism, scientific passion, and the struggle for respect in the workplace. It’s a unique and thought-provoking story that combines wit with deeper reflections on women’s roles in both science and society.
PBS Watch-Alike: The Great American Recipe
This friendly cooking competition follows home cooks from all around the country. Celebrating America’s rich culture through cuisine, this show emphasizes how food helps to shape our heritage, identity, and community. Season 4 of The Great American Recipe premieres July 11 on PBS.
 About the Author
Bonnie Garmus
 About the Author
Charlotte McConaghy
Charlotte is an Australian author living in Sydney with her partner and two children.
She has a Masters Degree in Screenwriting from the Australian Film Television and Radio School, and a number of published SFF works in Australia.
Her novel MIGRATIONS was her first foray into adult literary fiction, published in North America by Flatiron Books, and by Penguin Random House in Australia and the UK. It is being translated into over 25 languages, and adapted to film.
ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES, the New York Times Bestseller, is a romantic mystery about a biologist charged with reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands in order to rewild the landscape and bring a forest back to life.
Her third novel WILD DARK SHORE continues her love of romantic thrillers set in beautiful, remote places, and explores not only what it takes to raise children in a collapsing world, but the impossible choices we make to protect those we love.
