In this laugh out loud funny novel, Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant chemist who just wants to do her research, but it's the 1960s and none of the men in her field quite know what to do with this determined woman, so mostly they attempt to ruin her. Except for Calvin Evans, the renowned but awkward chemist who is as dazzled by her mind as her beauty. He wants to marry her, which she refuses on the basis it will destroy what small career she has been able to carve out for herself. Within a year, Calvin is gone, Elizabeth has had his child, she has been fired, she has become a TV cooking show phenomenon, and she is as far from her dream to be left alone to do chemistry as she possibly could be. And people and one incredibly perceptive dog keep attaching themselves to her. Is chemistry all there is, or might there be more for Elizabeth? Linda and Nancy discuss this book, its zany characters, and sexism in the 1960s.
In Tess Gunty’s The Rabbit Hutch, Blandine is obsessed by Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th century abbess. We wanted to learn more about this German theologian, composer, and botanist, so asked Dr. Jennifer Bain to join us. She is the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Hildegard of Bingen and professor of Musicology and Gender and Women's Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Think the multi-hyphenates of today are impressive? You need to hear about Hildegard!
In the New York Times bestselling novel, The Rabbit Hutch, Tess Gunty introduces us to Vacca Vale, Indiana, a dying city clinging to its past automobile manufacturing glory days. After decades of economic disintegration brought on by the closing of Zorn Automotive Manufacturing, we meet the residents of an affordable housing building, particularly the brilliant but lost 17-year-old, Blandine, who has “graduated” from foster care and is now living with three boys, also products of the broken system. We meet Blandine’s lecherous high school teacher, a developer who plans to build on the only remaining green space in the city, and an aged former child star who has died. Blandine, guided by the writings of medieval saints, tries to find a future for herself, her city, and the only remaining green space which is about to go under the developer’s shovel. “Inventive, heartbreaking and acutely funny” Observer.
Intrigue abounds as we learn how 16th century Italian courts schemed and fought to maintain their power, as we read about in Maggie O'Farrell's latest historical novel, The Marriage Portrait. In the swirl of wars and murder, we talk about how women in different courts distinguished themselves and the roles they played. We also talk about some of the finer things in Renaissance life, such as art, music, and fashion. Our guide in this immersion is Dr. Deanna Shemek, a University of California-Irvine professor and Italian expert who specializes in Italian literature, Italian and European history, women and gender studies, and Renaissance and early modern studies. We learn a lot and share some laughs, too!
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The Marriage Portrait, a riveting historical fiction novel, plunges us into the 16th-century world of Lucrezia de’ Medici whose parents have forced her to wed Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara. He has taken her to his isolated hunting lodge and she becomes aware of the fact that he means to murder her there. As the novel skips around in chronology we learn about Lucrezia’s conception, birth, and childhood that brought her to this moment. She is a sensitive, artistic, and misunderstood youngest daughter. We hang on by our fingernails to see how her story ends.
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