Chemistry: A Novel
Weike WangA luminous, funny and charming novel from National Book Foundation ‘5 under 35’ Honouree, Weike Wang, about a young Chinese-American scientist who must recalibrate her life when her academic career goes off-track
"The narrator's voice - distinctive and appealing - makes this novel at once moving and amusing, never predictable. A wry, unique, touching tale of the limits of parental and partnership pressure." - Kirkus Reviews
But instead of feeling hopeful, she is wracked with ambivalence. When it all becomes too much and her life plan veers off course, she finds herself on a new path of discoveries about everything she thought she knew.
"Weike Wang’s Chemistry is the most assured novel about indecisiveness you’ll ever read ... Chemistry is narrated in a continual present tense, which, in conjunction with Wang’s marvellous sense of timing and short, spare sections, can make the novel feel like a stand-up routine." - Jamie Fisher, The Washington Post
Weike Wang studied chemistry at Harvard, where she experienced firsthand the novel’s high-pressure academic environment. Her novel is an inside, honest look at the struggle to succeed as a female research scientist at a prestigious university. Smart, moving, and always funny, this unique coming-of-age story is certain to evoke a winning reaction.