Lessons in Chemistry

by Bonnie Garmus

while we may be born into families, it doesn’t necessarily mean we belong to them.”

people will always yearn for a simple solution to their complicated problems. It’s a lot easier to have faith in something you can’t see,

can’t touch, can’t explain, and can’t change, rather than to have faith in something you actually can.” She sighed. “One’s self, I mean.” She tensed her stomach.

And then there was the illogical art of female friendship itself, the way it seemed to demand an ability to both keep and reveal secrets using precise timing.

No surprise. Idiots make it into every company. They tend to interview well.

“How dare you,” he said, his voice rising. “A woman telling me what pregnancy is. Who do you think you are?” She seemed surprised by the question. “A woman,” she said.

The room fell silent. It was the way she kept disagreeing—without embarrassment, without melodrama—as if she would have the last say, as if she knew she’d win in the end. This is exactly the kind of attitude her coworkers had complained of.