Lessons in Chemistry is Bonnie Garmus’s bestselling and first novel.

Bonnie Garmus is a copywriter and creative director. She is an open-water swimmer, a rower, and mother to two daughters. Born in California, she currently lives in London with her husband and her second dog, 99. Her first novel, Lessons in Chemistry is an international bestseller. It has won countless awards, translated into more than forty languages.

I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Bonnie when she came to Brisbane last week. She was warm and engaging, very amusing and totally down to earth. Most will have by now read the book but if not you can now get a copy, with an added chapter on 6.30.

For those unfamiliar with the story it is the story of Elizabeth Zott, chemist and single mother to Mad set in the late 1950s – 60s where it was not uncommon for women to be dismissed. Elizabeth conducts her life with wit and courage. It makes for a laugh out loud story with wonderful messages for women and the choices they make in their lives.

The story has a speaking dog character called 6.30. The dog is loosely based on her own dog Friday, a rescue dog with mange who they were worried about taking home. Friday however was extraordinarily clever and would listen attentively to their conversations at the dinner table and when called upon was perfectly able to rifle through bags and pockets to find the car keys for Bonnie.

The story I loved best however is that Bonnie moved to Switzerland where all dogs have to be registered and pass a rigorous obedience test off the lead without the help of their owners. The handler came back to declare that Friday had achieved a score of 100% and then confidently declared that this dog could not be an American dog but was clearly Swiss!

The editors and publishers wanted to take out 6.30 from the novel. Bonnie refused and stuck to her guns to have the dog included. She told us with some amusement that she later discovered the publisher and editor were cat people. That said it all.