Historical fiction is not a genre I read often, and this is not the type of book anyone who knows me expected me to pick up. Against their expectations and mine, I rather loved it. 

This is a book with serious topics that is not particularly written in a serious way. It is quirky. The chronology is all over the place, with constant flashbacks within flashbacks. Coincidences abound. And one of the points of view characters is an extremely intelligent dog. 

Despite all of the jumping around in time, the book is very easy to read, with compelling characters. The main theme of the book is equality for women, with the main character Elizabeth a chemist who struggles to get people to acknowledge her scientific abilities and has to deal with sexism and sexual assault from men in positions of power. It also has themes of family and friendship. 

If this book had been written "straight" without the quirkiness, I probably would not have liked it as much personally, although more frequent readers of historical fiction might have done. For myself however the writing style made it fun to read and the ending felt uplifting. It isn't going to make me read more of the genre in general, but perhaps I'll keep an eye out for what else Bonnie Garmus decides to write in future.