Bonnie Garmus - “As humans, we all want to live a life that matters”
On her debut novel about a female scientist in 1960s USA that’s set to become a web series starring Academy Award winner Brie Larson
How did you weave serious themes like sexism and misogyny into a light narrative?
The book’s underlying theme is balance and chemistry is the science of balance. You cannot have an unbalanced chemical equation. Rowing too is the sport of balance, and the book strives to maintain a balance between the dark and light narrative. To me, that’s the best way to talk about difficult things, to see them through other perspectives, and to maintain a sense of humour when it comes to life’s hardships. We all face difficulties and I just think it’s easier to face them if we can remember that darkness and dawn go hand in hand.
Tell us about your mother in whose honour you created Elizabeth Zott’s character.
My mother was a nurse, wife, and mother to four daughters. She was an amazing woman who worked extremely hard. Her life was spent taking care of us but it was very obvious that she missed her career as a nurse. It was only after we grew up that she renewed her nursing license and returned to the hospital, and won the ‘Nurse of the Year’ her second year back. She became the first person at her hospital to volunteer to work on the AIDS floor. And her commitment to supporting the gay community, way back in the 1980s when everyone was still so afraid, makes me very proud.
Tell us about the dog named Six Thirty in the book.
Six-Thirty was inspired by my dog, Friday. We had adopted her from a shelter when she was in bad shape. Her previous owner had been abusive. But Friday turned out to be the most wonderfully calm and sensitive dog. She was naturally smart, intuitive, protective, and loving. We never set out to teach her any words; she did that all on her own. Friday even understood English and German languages.
To be honest, I think we learned more from Friday than she learned from us. And so, I created the character of Six-Thirty for her because Friday taught me the folly of underestimating other species. While we may assume animals can’t think and it is an indication of their lower intelligence, it is in fact the opposite – it’s indication of our own limited intelligence. Every animal is smart enough to learn our human words, and in several languages.
As a copywriter and a novelist, which form of writing feels more rewarding?
The approaches to copywriting and writing a novel aren’t different at all; they’re in fact exactly the same. Copywriting is highly creative problem-solving, just like a novel. I used the same approach to write both. I don’t work from outlines; I allow the characters to guide the book. And I did the same thing with copywriting. I allowed the voice — the narrator — to guide the work. The only real difference is that one is short and one is long.
Tell us about how your manuscript got rejected multiple times.
The book that got rejected was a novel I’d written before Lessons in Chemistry. It was rejected based on length — it was 700 pages long. And I was naïve enough not to realize no agent in the world would want to sign a 700-page book from an unproven debut author.
I did finally get one agent — on the 98th try — to read the first 5,000 words, and her feedback was pretty harsh. She said that she “loved the voice” but refused to work with me because I was too ignorant to realize I shouldn’t be writing anything over 350 pages. It was tough to hear that and it stopped me cold. It had taken me years to write that other book. Still, I set it aside. But then one day at work, spurred on by a bad meeting, I started Lessons in Chemistry.
How did it feel when Lessons in Chemistry sold millions of copies worldwide?
I can honestly say I never saw that coming. The only thing that really matters to me is that people can see themselves in the book — they can see their own hardships, disappointments, and successes. My intent was to write universal characters and I’m thrilled to find that people all over the world identify with the people in the book. As humans, we all want to live a life that matters. And we could all use a little more hope. I’m so happy when readers find both in Lessons in Chemistry.
How did the book’s adaptation into a TV series come about?
Lessons in Chemistry was generating a lot of attention in Hollywood before it was even published. I was very lucky to get several offers and I was really happy with the team I chose. I well remember the day Brie Larson called to say she wanted not only to star in it, but executive produce. It was amazing. I know she’s a wonderful actress and I’m honoured that she wanted to play Elizabeth Zott.
I’m not involved in the adaptation. It is a little hard to hand your book over. Making the huge, sweeping edits that television requires is another kind of expertise. Other authors counselled me to step back and that was good advice. We’ll wait and see what the adaptation looks like; I remain hopeful.
You’re a full-time rower and so is Elizabeth. Tell us a little about this passion of yours.
I’m not rowing full-time right now but I love rowing and one of the great things about it is that you can pick it up at any age. It’s really one of the best sports out there. It’s wonderful to be out on the water with my teammates; some of my best moments in life have been with them. And even though it’s a lot of work, it’s incredibly rewarding. Rowing teaches endurance — and endurance is a valuable skill to have.
Arunima Mazumdar is an independent writer. She is @sermoninstone on Twitter and @sermonsinstone on Instagram.