Lessons in Chemistry is the first novel by Bonnie Garmus, but she had a long career before this. Garmus is originally from Seattle and has worked as a copywriter and creative director. Her clientswere from a wide range of fields, including technology, medicine, and education.
Garmus’ inspiration for Lessons in Chemistry stemmed from the stories of her mother’s generationHer mother was a nurse before becoming a housewife. She only returned to the workplace after her children had grown up. Garmus believes that her mother would have made a wonderful surgeon, but this path wasn’t open to her at that time. Garmus said that she was thinking of many different women while writing the novel and that she wanted to honor all the women whose dreams were pushed aside.
