‘Lessons in Chemistry’ wins Dymocks 2022 Book of the Year

London-based American writer Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons in Chemistry (Doubleday) has been named Dymocks Book of the Year for 2022.

Set in the early 1960s, Garmus’s debut novel follows chemist Elizabeth Zott, who works with an all-male team at Hastings Research Institute who all have a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, who falls in love with—of all things—her mind.

A few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s scientific approach to cooking proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

Dymocks booksellers chose Lessons in Chemistry from a shortlist of six. Dymocks fiction category manager Kate Mayer said Lessons in Chemistry is ‘a cracker of a novel that ticks all the boxes of a great read—you won’t want to look up once you start, you’ll want to give it to everyone you know, you’ll enjoy it immensely and learn from it, and you’ll have a new favourite literary heroine. We can’t wait for more people to fall for Elizabeth Zott as we have here at Dymocks.’

Of her win, Garmus said: ‘I am completely over the moon to learn Lessons in Chemistry has won Dymocks Book of the Year! To be honest, I haven’t fully recovered from being shortlisted yet! Thank you to each and every Dymocks bookseller, for your beautiful store windows, your interior displays, and most of all, for putting my book in your readers’ hands. I am humbled and grateful.’

This year, the newly added Young Readers Book of the Year Award went to Australian author Craig Silvey’s Runt (A&U), which follows young Annie Shearer who lives in the country town of Upson Downs with her best friend, an adopted stray dog called Runt.

‘Runt is so very deserving of our first Dymocks Younger Readers Book of the Year Award. It is simply a standout story that is a charming reminder that there is always good in the world. I promise you; it will warm your heart and soul. If you buy one book for the young reader in your life this year, make it this one,’ said Dymocks children’s category manager Hsu Tin.

Silvey’s Honeybee (A&U) was selected Book of the Year in 2020; last year’s winner was Sarah Winman for her novel Still Life (Fourth Estate).

Category: Awards Local news